Two strong earthquakes shake up Greek island of Cephalonia

A pair of earthquakes, registering as magnitude 6.1 and 5.4, struck off the island of Cephalonia, in western Greece, on Sunday. There have been no reports of serious injuries, but many buildings on the island have suffered at least minor damage and the shaking was felt as far away as Athens, nearly 300 kilometres away.

It was just before 4 p.m. local time (around 9 a.m. Eastern Time) when the first and stronger of these two earthquakes struck, centred six kilometres west of the island's capital of Argostoli, and three kilometres south of the town of Lixouri. The US Geological Survey recorded the quake as magnitude 6.1, and the shallow depth of the earthquake — around 12 kilometres below the surface — meant that the island communities were severely shaken up.

At least two dozen aftershocks have been felt since, according to the Institute of Geodynamics in Athens. One of the latest of these aftershocks registered as magnitude 5.4 according to the USGS — a significant earthquake on its own — striking just to the west of the island, about 25 kilometres northwest of the first one, at just before 9 p.m. local time (around 2 p.m. Eastern Time). Significant aftershock continue to rattle the area.

According to the latest updates from Earthquake-Report.com, nearly every building in the town of Lixouri has suffered at least minor damage so far, and many, including schools, have suffered more serious damage, such as collapsed walls and roofs. Reports of minor damage have come in from across the island, as well as the neighbouring island of Zakynthos, about 50 kilometres to the south. Kefalonia Island International Airport, just to the south of Argostoli, has apparently also suffered damage and flights there are currently delayed.

There are reports that some people have sought help at the local hospital in Argostoli for minor injuries, and the hospital there may have been evacuated due to a collapsed roof.

Reports are still coming in from the second of these two major quakes, however it has apparently caused new damage, and was felt as far away as Albania and Italy.

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The people of Greece are no strangers to strong earthquakes. The last significant one in this area was in 2008, when a magnitude 6.5 quake struck on the mainland just to the east of Cephalonia, killing two people, injuring more than 200, and leaving thousands homeless. Two years before, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake shook the southern part of the region, thankfully causing no casualties. In 1999 a magnitude 6.0 quake struck just to the north of Athens' city centre, killing 143 people, injuring 2,000 more, and damaging or destroying over 50,000 buildings. Total damages were estimated at around 3 billion U.S. dollars.

(Image courtesy: US Geological Survey)

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