2006 Greece earthquake

The 2006 Greece earthquake – also known as the Kythira earthquake – occurred on January 8 at 13:34:53 local time and was felt throughout the entire eastern Mediterranean basin. The earthquake an M_w magnitude 6.7 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong). Its epicentre was located just off the island of Kythira about 200 kilometres (120 mi) south of Athens.

2006 Greece earthquake

The main church of Mitata, Kythira, after the earthquake
UTC time	2006-01-08 11:34:54
ISC event	8012175
USGS-ANSS	ComCat
Local date	8 January 2006 (2006-01-08)
Local time	13:34:53[1]
Magnitude	6.7 Mw[1]
Depth	55.0 km (34.2 mi) [1]
Epicenter	36.26°N 23.46°E / 36.26; 23.46 [1]
Type	Oblique-slip[2]
Areas affected	Greece
Max. intensity	MMI VII (Very strong)[3]
Casualties	3 injured[2]

One person was injured and a number of buildings and roads in Kythira were heavily damaged as a result. Several older houses on the island completely collapsed while the central square of the village of Mitata partially fell into the valley as a result of a subsequent landslide. Few buildings were damaged on the mainland closest to the epicentre (Cape Malea). On the island of Crete, two people were slightly injured in their attempt to abandon their homes. Damage to 146 buildings was recorded in western Crete, including the old town hall of Chania, the third Venetian arsenal, nine schools and many of the houses in the old Venetian town center.

Nevertheless, despite the magnitude and the duration of the tremor (buildings in Athens swayed for almost 40 seconds) no other significant injury or damage was reported in the country's strongest earthquake in decades. This was mainly because the quake had a focal depth of approximately 55 kilometres (34 mi). The tremor was felt as far away as in Bari on the Adriatic Sea, Naples and much of southern Italy, Malta, Cairo and even along the Lebanese, Syrian and Israeli shorelines. No tsunami was associated with this event.

See also

• List of earthquakes in 2006
• List of earthquakes in Greece

References

1. ISC (19 January 2015), ISC-GEM Global Instrumental Earthquake Catalogue (1900–2009), Version 2.0, International Seismological Centre
2. USGS (September 4, 2009), PAGER-CAT Earthquake Catalog, Version 2008_06.1, United States Geological Survey
3. USGS (December 1, 2008), EXPO-CAT Earthquake Catalog, Version 2007-12, United States Geological Survey

Sources

• Konstantinou, K. I.; Kalogeras, I. S.; Melis, N. S.; Kourouzidis, M. C.; Stavrakakis, G. N. (2006), "The 8 January 2006 Earthquake (Mw 6.7) Offshore Kythira Island, Southern Greece: Seismological, Strong-motion, and Macroseismic Observations of an Intermediate-depth Event" (PDF), Seismological Research Letters, 77 (5): 544–553, Bibcode:2006SeiRL..77..544K, doi:10.1785/gssrl.77.5.544

External links

• Underwater Earthquake Rattles Greece – The New York Times
• Pictures of the damage kythera-family.net
• Earthquake shakes southern Greece – BBC News
• Kythira Earthquake – University of Athens
• The International Seismological Centre has a bibliography and/or authoritative data for this event.