‘Suddenly, the lights began to swing’

An earthquake about 1,000 kilometres away from Malta was felt in several towns around the island just before 3.30 p.m. yesterday.

The underwater quake oc­curred 127 kilometres off the north eastern coast of Iraklion, Crete, and clocked 6.1 on the Richter scale which, according to seismologist Pauline Galea, would be felt strongly close to the epicentre and could possibly cause some damage.

Earthquakes of this magnitude were not common so close to Malta, Dr Galea said.

“We have observed, however, that there is more of a chance of us feeling earthquakes coming from Greece and that region.”

In Malta, the tremor is known to have been felt in Valletta, Ta’ Xbiex, Msida, Blata l-Bajda, Sliema and Xemxija. No damage was reported in Greece.

Anthony Cardona, who works on the top floor of the Malta Stock Exchange in Valletta, said he was at his desk when “suddenly the lights began to swing and the water dispenser to shake.

“My colleague and I stood up as we felt it, but people in other floors didn’t seem to have noticed,” Mr Cardona said. Similarly, Franco Cassar Manghi, whose Blata l-Bajda office is on the fourth floor, said he felt the tremor.

Those who felt the tremor are invited to inform the Seismic Monitoring and Re-search Unit on www.phys.um.edu.mt/seismic or call 2137 1027.