Alert raised for possible tsunami after 6.1-magnitude earthquake strikes near Crete

Residents are bracing for a possible tsunami in Crete this morning after a powerful 6.1 magnitude earthquake was detected off the coast.

A tsunami warning was issued by the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), advising people in Greece, Turkey, Italy, France, and Portugal to seek updates from local authorities.

The tremor was reported to have been felt across the Aegean Sea, including parts of Turkey and Israel. 

In Crete, residents reported being awakened by the earthquake with one witness in Schisma Elounta, located about 30 miles from the epicenter, describing how the ‘whole room was shaking’. Many mentioned that the tremor lasted for approximately 30 seconds.

Following the earthquake, a British holidaymaker expressed on TikTok: ‘That was very scary. I was scared last time but this time I’m terrified … That’s been two earthquakes in the past week and I just want to get home safely. I just want to leave.’

She said she was trying to reassure her children ‘but now we’re worried about a tsunami’. ‘This is just my worst nightmare.’

Another holidaymaker told TikTok followers: ‘Excuse the state of me. I’ve just been woken up by a f***ing earthquake.’

Fearing the tsunami warning, she added: ‘I’m just looking at the sea now thinking, “does that look any different?”‘

Others described objects falling from shelves on the lower floors of their homes, and the fear of seeing ‘the building sway and creak’. One was woken up by the ‘rumbling’ to discover ‘the bed was shaking profusely’.

Local media showed supermarket items strewn on floors, and reported minor rockslides on rural roads, though no major damage was initially reported. 

One British holidaymaker told TikTok followers: ‘Excuse the state of me. I’ve just been woken up by a f***ing earthquake.’ 

Household items thrown from shelves in the wake of the earthquake on Thursday

The Greek fire brigade said that all its forces were on high alert across the island, though it was yet to receive any calls for help. 

State news agency ANA said firefighters had been placed on general alert, with vehicles patrolling to assess the situation.

The tremor, which hit 49 miles off the city of Heraklion at 6:19 a.m. (0319 GMT) on Thursday, jolting locals and tourists holidaying on the island at the start of the summer season, according to reports on X.

State television ERT said many residents in the Cretan regions of Rethymno and Lasithi were woken by the quake early in the morning and quickly exited their homes as a precaution.

‘Everything shook like mad , never felt one that strong,’ said one witness in Malia.

Victoria, holidaying in Hersonissos, told MailOnline she and her boyfriend were woken up this morning ‘to our bed shaking lots’.

She said part of the balcony door’s metal frame came off when it happened, and that it was ‘very scary’.

Melissa Ford, staying in Rethymno with family, told MailOnline: ‘We were woken soon after 6am to the shaking of the walls in our hotel room and the government alarm going off on our phones warning us of an earthquake.

‘It was quite the shock. I imagine it lasted about 30 seconds if not longer. Fortunately, it didn’t wake our children and although there were after shocks, we didn’t feel them.’

Witnesses described homes shaking and items being knocked off of shelves

Local media shared residential CCTV footage showed overhead power lines shaking as the camera wobbled.

Photos showed household items thrown from shelves in a Cretan supermarket.

The mayor of Heraklion, Alexis Kalokerinos, told ERT that there were no particular problems in the city and that closing schools would not be necessary. 

The tremor ‘occurred at a great depth and there is no particular reason for residents to worry,’ Athanassios Ganas, general director of Research at the Geodynamics Institute of the National Observatory of Athens, told ERT.

The quake hit at a depth of 68 kilometres (42 miles), the American USGS said.

It struck just over a week after a 6.1-magnitude tremor hit near the island of Kasos east of Crete, and was felt in the outlying area.

The region, popular with tourists, has been hit with multiple tremors in recent months, prompting schools in Santorini and neighbouring islands to temporarily close. 

Photos shared to social media show damage in the aftermath of today’s earthquake in Crete

Mochlos village, Sitia, Lasithi, Crete, Greece (file)

Thousands of earthquakes, mainly of low magnitude, have been recorded since January between the islands of Santorini, Amorgos, Ios and Anafi in the Cyclades group southeast of the Greek mainland.

They have not caused casualties or significant damage.

Located where the African and Anatolian tectonic plates converge, the Aegean Sea is often hit by quakes.

But the region had not experienced a phenomenon of such magnitude since records began in 1964, experts say.

Greece is one of Europe’s most earthquake-prone countries.