File photo.
Two moderately strong earthquakes rattled the southern island of Crete at either end early Wednesday, authorities said, but no damage or injuries were reported.
The Athens Geodynamic Institute said an undersea quake with magnitude 3.7 struck 19 kilometers south-southwest of Goudouras in the island’s eastern Lassithi area at 2:27 a.m. It was followed by two smaller quakes.
More than an hour earlier, a magnitude 3.8 undersea earthquake occurred nine kilometers south-southwest of Falassarna on western Crete.
Greece occupies one of the most earthquake-prone parts of the world, and Crete is one of its most seismically active areas. Nevertheless, major quakes causing death and widespread destruction are rare. In 1999, an earthquake near Athens killed 143 people.
