Powerful Earthquake Shakes Athens
The city of Athens in Greece was struck by a significant earthquake. The epicenter of the quake was just 22km, or 14 miles northwest of Athens. Many people were left without power after the 5.1 magnitude earthquake shook the city. During the chaos, people evacuated large buildings and poured out onto the street as the world around them shook.
Several aftershocks were felt in the region for nearly an hour after the initial quake. The strongest aftershock came nearly an hour after the first earthquake, and registered as a magnitude of 4.3.
Luckily, there were no reports of any fatalities or serious injuries, although some small property damage was reported. There were numerous people throughout the city who were trapped in elevators once the power was cut out, but fire emergency services were able to quickly rescue them.
Efthymios Lekkas, the head of the anti-quake protection agency warned greeks to stay calm in a statement.
“There is no reason for concern. The capital’s buildings are built to withstand a much stronger earthquake,” he said.
Researchers estimate that the quake was roughly 13km, or 8 miles from the surface of the earth.
Greece is not a hotbed for seismic activity as some of the other areas to recently face quakes. This incident is actually the first earthquake that Athens has seen since September of 1999.
Photo Credit: BBC
Sadly, in that previous earthquake, 143 people perished and thousands of buildings were damaged.
Oddly enough, scientists say that the earthquake that occurred 20 years ago originated very close to the epicenter of this most recent quake. Experts expect that nearby Mt Parnitha is to blame, which is located very close to the epicenter of both earthquakes.
In recent weeks, seismic activity has been happening all over the world. Last month, California saw its worst earthquake in 20 years, followed by significant quakes in Indonesia and Mexico.
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