Athens News Agency: News in English, 05-09-13

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Earthquake rocks Cephalonia, no damage

[01] Earthquake rocks Cephalonia, no damage

According to the Athens National Observatory's Geodynamic Institute and the Thessaloniki Aristotelion University's Geophysics Laboratory, the earthquake was recorded at 7:41 a.m., at a distance of 300 kilometres west of Athens, with its epicentre in the sea, 30 kilometres west of Cephalonia.

The quake, which was registered by seismographs in Athens, Patras and Thessaloniki, was not widely felt, and was described by seismologists as "usual" for the region.

Meanwhile, the post-quake activity from a 4.5 Richter earthquake that shook the northern capital of Thessaloniki on Monday night was developing normally, with four aftershocks of diminishing magnitude recorded late at night, but no further quake activity recorded throughout the night and up to 9:00 a.m. Tuesday, Geodynamic Institute seismologists told ANA.

An earthquake measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale jolted Thessaloniki at 10:08 Monday night, with its epicentre two kilometres northeast of the city, in Lake Volvi. The quake was felt in the city of Thessaloniki and other areas of central Macedonia, causing alarm among residents but no damage or injuries. The 4.5 Richter trembler, which is believed to have been the main quake, was preceded by a weak 2.8 Richter quake at 9:54 p.m., and was followed by three more quakes of diminishing magnitude: 2.8 Richter at 10:16 p.m., 4.2 Richter at 10:26 p.m., and the final aftershock at 10:53 p.m. which registered 3.3 Richter, all emanating from the same seismogenic area between the Lakes Great Volvi and Little Volvi. This same epicentre produced the catastrophic 6.5 Richter earthquake that hit Thessaloniki on June 20, 1978.

Geophysics Laboratory seismologist Vassilis Karakostas told ANA that all indications pointed to a diminishing magnitude of the seismic activity, and consequently the 4.5 Richter trembler had most likely been the main quake. However, he added, the first critical 48 hours needed to pass for final conclusions to be reached.

Also, a 4.7 Richter earthquake was recorded at 00:31 Tuesday morning, with its epicentre 320 kilometres northwest of Athens, in the sea southwest of Paxi islands.

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