An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.3 on the Richter scale hit Crete on Tuesday afternoon, the National Observatory of Athens’ Geodynamic Institute has reported.
The tremor’s epicenter was located some 23 kilometers off the southeastern coast of the island, which is still recovering from an earthquake of 5.8 Richter in late September.
It struck at 12.24 p.m. and was felt across the broader region, rattling the islands of Kasos, Karpathos and Rhodes, and has been followed by a succession of aftershocks.
The fire service says there have been no reports of injuries so far.
Local media report that the church of Agios Nikolaos in Xirokampos, Sitia has collapsed due to the earthquake.
The seismic tremor was also felt in all the islands of the Dodecanese and mainly in Kasos, Karpathos and Rhodes, but also in Santorini.
Seismologist Efthymis Lekkas, who heads Greece’s Organization of Earthquake Planning and Protection (OASP), told state broadcaster ERT that Tuesday’s earthquake did not come from the same epicenter as that in Arkalochori, in the region of Iraklio, on September 27.
One person died in that earthquake and hundreds of homes and businesses were badly damaged.
