An earthquake of magnitude 6.3 hit the east Crete today (2021-10-12) at 09:24:03 UTC (11:24 local time). The earthquake hypocenter was situated at a relatively shallow depth of 10 km. The earthquake occurred very close to the town of Palekastro with population of about 1,000 and about 100 km east of the island’s capital, Heraklion. The earthquake was shortly followed by an aftershock of magnitude 4.4. There are no immediate reports of a damage in the region.
Figure 1: The map shows the epicentral location of the magnitude 6.3 earthquake together with the perceived shaking intensity (denoted by the color scale).
The earthquake is the second significant event in less than a month, following a magnitude 6.0 earthquake that occurred close to Heraklion on September 27, killing one person and causing serious damage to buildings.
Figure 2: Recordings from the Kasperske Hory seismic station (October 12, 2021)
The Mediterranean region is very seismically active due to the convergence of the African plate (at the south) and the Eurasian plate (at the north). The convergence rates range between 4 and 10 mm per year along the plate boundary. Strong earthquakes have historically caused a widespread damage along the entire plate boundary, including southern Greece and Crete. Two significant instrumentally recorded earthquakes occurred in 1903 close to Kythera (magnitude 8.2) and in 1926 in Rhodes (magnitude 7.8).