October 25, 2018 Earthquake: Zakynthos, Strofades, Ionian Sea, Greece

Three people injured, 120 homes and the main harbor damaged, power outages occurred and a local tsunami generated on Zante. A 15th century monastery damaged in the Nisides Strofades.

The October 25th, 2018, M 6.8 earthquake southwest of Lithakia, Greece, occurred as the result of rupture on or near the plate boundary between the Nubia (Africa) and the Eurasia plates. At the location of this earthquake, Nubia converges with Eurasia at a rate of roughly 28 mm/yr, subducting beneath Eurasia. Preliminary focal mechanisms for the earthquake indicate oblique slip on a near-vertical west-northwest striking fault or a moderately dipping north striking fault. The region surrounding this event is seismically active and earthquakes of this size are not uncommon. Since 1900, 13 other earthquakes M 6.5 and larger have occurred within 200 km of this October 25, 2018, M 6.8 event. The largest was a M 7.3 on October 6, 1947, which occurred 145 km southeast of this event. On June 15th, 1995, a M 6.5 earthquake, 180 km inland to the northeast, resulted in 26 fatalities. On November 17, 2015, a M 6.5 earthquake occurred 130 km to the north, closer to the coast of Greece, resulting in two fatalities.

Pantokrator, Zakinthos, Greece - CDI: 8; Lithakia, Zakinthos, Greece - CDI: 7; Pirgos, Ilia, Greece - CDI: 6; Argostolion, Kefallinia, Greece - CDI: 6; Makrisia, Ilia, Greece - CDI: 6

(all above from reference #13456)

A powerful earthquake shook western Greece early on Friday, damaging a port and a 15th century monastery, but causing no major injuries, officials and local media said. The quake sent out tremors felt as far afield as Libya, Italy, Malta and Albania. Greek authorities initially issued a tsunami warning then withdrew the alert. The magnitude 6.4 quake struck in the Ionian Sea, 50 km (31 miles) south of the island of Zakynthos, also known as Zante, Greece's Geodynamic Institute reported. The U.S. Geological Survey rated the magnitude at 6.8. Three people were taken to hospital on the island, two of them slightly injured, a spokesman for Greece's civil protection agency said. A series of aftershocks, the highest at 5.6, rattled the island and power was briefly disrupted. Tremors damaged a 15th-century monastery on the nearby islands of Strofades, local media in Zakynthos reported. They also left large cracks in the port of Zakynthos, though authorities there said operations would continue as usual. (reference #12270)

A Mw 6.8 earthquake struck the area of the Zakynthos island, western Greece (Fig. 1) on 25 October 2018, at 22:54 UTC. This earthquake occurred ∼36 km to the SW of Zakynthos and ∼40 km to the NW of the Strofades island. Limited structural damages were reported mainly on the dock of the Zakynthos harbour and at the Strofades monastery (Karakostas et al. 2018). (reference #12664)