Samos News

One of the most powerful earthquakes to be felt for over a decade hit Samos and neighboring islands in the eastern Aegean early yesterday. It left experts in a fix and local authorities asking for assistance in ensuring the safety of buildings.

With its epicenter in the town of Seferihisar near Izmir, in Turkey, the earthquake measuring 6 on the Richter scale hit at 12:40 a.m. In Turkey, an elderly man died of a heart attack and many people were injured. There were no injuries reported in Greece.

The earthquake, along with a 5.3 Richter aftershock, was felt in neighboring islands of Chios and Lesvos, apart from Samos. Minor damage to local schools was reported due to which local authorities asked the government to send teams to check the safety of public buildings.

“It is not usual to have earthquakes of this magnitude so often,” said Kostas Makropoulos, professor of seismology at Athens University. Experts are concerned as yesterday’s seismic activity came less than four days after two equally strong earthquakes hit Samos.