Zakynthos earthquake: Greek island shaken by 6.4 tremor

Area hit by quake in Zakynthos

A powerful 6.4-magnitude earthquake south of the island of Zakynthos has been felt across western Greece.

The tremor, which struck at 01:54 on Friday (22:54 GMT) caused no injuries but some damage to the local pier as well a 13th Century monastery, reports said.

A series of aftershocks were felt in the hours after the quake and local schools were shut for the day.

The quake was centred 34km south-west of Zakynthos in the Ionian Sea.

It was felt as far afield as western Italy, Albania, Libya and the capital Athens, Greek media said.

Zakynthos was hit by a 7.3-magnitude quake in 1953, destroying most of the buildings of the island. Since then all buildings have been fortified to protect against further tremors.

However, first pictures on Friday showed a large crack in the ground at the island’s port.

source: bbc.com