5.0 Earthquake Strikes Greece
The first report of a moderate 5.0 quake in Greece this morning was followed two hours later by reports of a second, according to the US Geological Survey. The double earthquake was not as powerful as others that have rattled the seismically active Mediterranean region, and there are no injuries reported so far.
People can be forgiven for being a little shaken up since it has been an active few days for earth-rattling events. The Russian meteor strike, which injured 1,000 people and has left behind a huge clean-up mess, has been confirmed as the largest meteor strike in a century. An unrelated fireball-sized meteor put on a show Friday night in San Francisco, and a larger, moderately powerful 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck yesterday in on the Philippines island of Mindanao.
In the Mediterranean region itself, a somewhat smaller 4.8 tremblor struck Rome yesterday. Fortunately, there don’t seem to be any injuries or even any serious damage from the last three events.
The Richter scale is the standard measure that scientists use to describe earthquakes like the 5.0 quake in Greece. A moderate event of this size can certainly be felt, and it can be a frightening experience, but it usually doesn’t cause much damage unless it strikes in a heavily populated area. The two epicenters in southern Greece seem to have been located where the tremblors were unlikely to be able to do any real harm.
Earthquake Report, an independent blog that allows users to report their experiences about being in quakes of all sizes, has thus far only collected a couple of comments. One resident exclaimed, “We were in bed and could feel the bed shake and hear the wardrobe doors banging!!! YES, it was an earthquake!!”
By all reports so far, the 5.0 quake in Greece was more of a mild rattle than a genuine wake-up call for the region.
