Tremor in Greece felt in Malta

A strong earthquake that rattled southern Greece was felt in various parts of Malta yesterday morning.

The director of the Civil Protection Department, Peter Cordina, said one person from Valletta and another from Sliema called the department to inquire about the tremor they had felt.

Several people from Gozo also called the Seismic Monitoring Unit of the Physics Department within the University of Malta.

The earthquake, measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale, struck just off the Southwest coast of Greece. It was located some 656 kilometres away from Malta at 37.0 North, 21.7 East, the unit said. The quake was reported at about 11.10 a.m. local time and a second, smaller shock was also recorded at 11.38 a.m.

Readers from Valletta, Sliema and San Ġwann who called the offices of Allied Newspapers said they felt their desks and computer monitors shaking. One person who works in Sliema said the whole building was vibrating.

The BBC news website reported that witnesses in Athens said the earthquake lasted at least 15 seconds and there were no reports of casualties or damage.

"We were shaken for quite a long time, swaying back and forth," an Athens resident told Reuters news agency.

The tremor was felt as far away as Cairo, in Egypt, BBC reported adding that earthquakes are common in Greece and that the last serious earthquake there killed more than 100 people in September 1999.

Only last month, Malta felt a tremor following another earthquake that rocked the Greek capital, Athens. That earthquake measured 6.5 on the Richter scale.

The Seismic Monitoring Unit is urging anyone who felt the tremor to fill in the questionnaire posted on its website. This will help the unity to accurately estimate its intensity.

www.phys.um.edu.mt/seismic/