Crete earthquake: Greek holiday island struck by strong 5.3 magnitude tremor

The Greek holiday island was hit by the strong tremor shortly after 8am local time. Holidaymakers in Crete have reported waking up to the earthquake this morning. One holidaymaker said the earthquake shook their villa. She said on Twitter: “We’re 40 miles from the epicentre. Shook the villa for four to five seconds.”

There are currently no reports of any injuries or damage.

The earthquake is the second to hit Greece this month after one of the same magnitude hit Athens.

The quake was reported near port city Heraklion at a depth of 80km.

At least one building collapsed after it struck around 14-miles northwest of the city at 2pm local time.

Briton, Tia Cotterill, was in Anthens when the quake struck.

She told MirrorOnline: “We were about to order food when we felt it and a metal light fell off of the side of the building and smashed next to me.

“It was really scary there was dust off of the buildings flying everywhere.

“We also felt a small aftershock not long ago but it was no more than a rumble.”

The natural phenomenom caused powercuts in parts of Athens and the fire brigade said they had recieved multiple calls about people trapped in lifts.

The quake is thought to be the first to have struck the Greek capital since 1999, when a 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck at the bottom of Mount Parnitha.

On that occasion 143 people were killed by Greece’s deadliest natural disaster in almost half a centruy.

A further 1,600 were treated for injuries.

source: express.co.uk