Seismic activity near Crete felt in Malta
Did you feel it?
An earthquake that occurred off the western coast of Crete this morning at 08:23 local time was widely felt in Malta, particularly in the eastern half of the island. The Seismic Monitoring and Research Group (SMRG) within the Department of Geosciences, University of Malta, recorded the earthquake on all stations of the Malta Seismic Network, and received more than 20 felt reports through its online questionnaire.
The SMRG measured the magnitude of the earthquake to be 6.1. The epicentre of the earthquake was almost 800 km away, however it is not unusual for large earthquakes in the Greek region to be felt in Malta in spite of the large distance. A similar, but larger magnitude earthquake on Crete on the 12 th October 1856 had caused considerable damage on the Maltese islands. The SMRG also recorded the magnitude 6.4 earthquake in Albania that occurred yesterday, together with numerous aftershocks that continued throughout the day. The two events are not believed to be related although they are both located on the Hellenic arc, which represents the collisional process between tectonic plates in the region.
The SMRG operates the Malta Seismic Network, which now consists of 7 broadband digital stations installed throughout the Maltese islands, and transmitting real-time data. It also operates a virtual seismic network, accessing real-time data from stations all over the globe, particularly in the Mediterranean region. The Malta Seismic Network has been developed partly through funding by the Interreg Italia-Malta programme, as well as by the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects.