A strong earthquake measuring 5.8 shook Greece’s largest island Crete on Monday and one person was killed when a church dome collapsed, authorities said.
The quake, which also sent people out of their homes and public buildings and caused considerable damage, was described by a Greek seismologist, Efthymios Lekkas, as a “thunderbolt” with strong aftershocks.
Earlier the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said the earthquake reached a magnitude of 6.5, while the United States Geological Survey (USGS) put it at 6.0.
The epicentre of the quake was 23 kilometres northwest of Arvi at a depth of 10 kilometres, the institute in Athens said.
The mayor of Arkalohori village told Skai TV two churches and other buildings at the village had been damaged and two people were trapped, one in a church when the dome collapsed during maintenance work, and another in a home.
(Reuters)
