Earthquake jolts Greece’s largest island; one dies

A strong earthquake measuring 6.0 shook Greece's largest island Crete on Monday (September 27). Reports say one person was killed when a church dome collapsed.

Initial reports said the 5.8 magnitude quake damaged historical buildings in the area. The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) and the US Geological Survey (USGS) gave a magnitude of 6.0, with an epicentre seven kilometres north of the village of Thrapsano.

It is common for different seismological institutes to give varying magnitudes for an earthquake in the initial hours and days after an event.

However, it was the tenth earthquake felt in Crete in the last two hours, said reports.

The quake sent people fleeing into the streets. Repeated aftershocks were rattling the area, and local media reported damage in villages near the epicentre.

People immediately took to social media to post their views as rescue operations began in the area.

The dust in the distance is from the 5.8R #earthquake that just hit #Crete this morning.

At only 10km depth, we REALLY FELT this one.

All good over here - just a few shattered picture frames.

Hope everyone else is doing ok!! pic.twitter.com/UtRn60rlce

— Yorgos Saslis (@gsaslis) September 27, 2021

Quite a strong earthquake on Crete this morning, and the epicentre is ~10km from the island's largest city, Heraklion. The earthquake also has a shallow depth of <10km. Hoping there was no significant damage. https://t.co/SJCDvRgAG6 pic.twitter.com/E16Ch8tf7p

— Dr Stephen Hicks 🇪🇺 (@seismo_steve) September 27, 2021

Reports claimed that people were trapped in buildings even as several left their homes to come out on the streets.

Heraklion mayor Vassilis Lambrinos told Greek Skai television that there were no immediate reports from emergency services of any injuries or severe damage.

He further added that all the schools were evacuated and were to be checked for structural damage.