October 12, 2013 Earthquake: Chania, Crete, Greece

Felt (VII) at Vamvakopoulo and (IV) at Agia Eirini. Felt widely on Crete and in southern Greece. Felt (III) at Cairo and (II) at Al Jizeh, Egypt. Felt at Alexandria. Also felt at Benghazi, Libya, Belgrade, Serbia and Denizli, Turkey.

Tectonic Summary

Seismotectonics of the Mediterranean Region and Vicinity

The Mediterranean region is seismically active due to the northward convergence (4-10 mm/yr) of the African plate with respect to the Eurasian plate along a complex plate boundary. This convergence began approximately 50 Ma and was associated with the closure of the Tethys Sea. The modern day remnant of the Tethys Sea is the Mediterranean Sea. The highest rates of seismicity in the Mediterranean region are found along the Hellenic subduction zone of southern Greece, along the North Anatolian Fault Zone of western Turkey and the Calabrian subduction zone of southern Italy. Local high rates of convergence at the Hellenic subduction zone (35mm/yr) are associated with back-arc spreading throughout Greece and western Turkey above the subducting Mediterranean oceanic crust. Crustal normal faulting throughout this region is a manifestation of extensional tectonics associated with the back-arc spreading. The region of the Marmara Sea is a transition zone between this extensional regime, to the west, and the strike-slip regime of the North Anatolian Fault Zone, to the east. The North Anatolian Fault accommodates much of the right-lateral horizontal motion (23-24 mm/yr) between the Anatolian micro-plate and Eurasian plate as the Anatolian micro-plate is being pushed westward to further accommodate closure of the Mediterranean basin caused by the collision of the African and Arabian plates in southeastern Turkey. Subduction of the Mediterranean Sea floor beneath the Tyrrhenian Sea at the Calabrian subduction zone causes a significant zone of seismicity around Sicily and southern Italy. Active volcanoes are located above intermediate depth earthquakes in the Cyclades of the Aegean Sea and in southern Italy...

(above from reference #13456)

ATHENS - ATHENS - A magnitude-6.3 earthquake struck at a depth of 21 kilometers (13 miles) off the western tip of Crete on Saturday, the Athens Geodynamic Institute said, causing minor damage to homes and shops but no serious injuries. The quake, which struck at 4:11 p.m. local time (1311 GMT) and had an epicenter 39 kilometers (24.2 miles) south of the island of Antikythera, just west of the city of Chania on Crete, caused thousands of residents on both islands to rush from their homes in panic. The underwater earthquake was felt as far away as Egypt and the Greek capital, Athens. One person, a resident of Chania, was slightly injured when he jumped from a first-floor balcony and landed on a car below. A bus was temporarily trapped after rocks fell in a ravine west of the city. No one was injured and emergency crews removed the debris. Cracks were reported in a number of homes and shops in Chania. (reference #10765)