An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.0 shook Evia on Tuesday and was felt as far as Athens, according to witnesses, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or serious damage.
The 5 on Richter scale tremor occurred at 10.06 p.m. in southeastern Evia, according to the Athens Geodynamic Institute; its epicentre was 57 km northeast of Athens, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre. Its focal depth was initially estimated at 2 km.
It was preceded by a magnitude 4.8 quake at 6.32 a.m. that had roughly the same epicentre, some 58 kilometres northeast of the Greek capital.
Authorities ordered school closures in the south of the island following the morning earthquake, which according to the civil protection agency caused only minor damage to homes near the epicentre. Officials said schools would remain closed Wednesday, too.
Earthquakes are common in Greece and neighbouring Turkey, but not off the eastern coast of Evia.
“We have no data on fault lines in that area,” Efthymios Lekkas, a professor of applied geology and disaster management at the University of Athens, told state-run ERT television.
