'We're scared and cold - please do something!': Terrified British tourists plea for help on social media after Zante is rocked by 6.8-magnitude earthquake
- The quake struck at 1.54 am in the Ionian sea off the coast of Zakynthos (Zante)
- British tourists on Twitter said they are terrified and 'want out' of the country
- Fire brigade in Athens said there are no reports of casualties so far
- Small tsunami of 15-20 cm seen on beaches, according to monitoring group
British tourists on holiday in Greece have told of their terror when a powerful earthquake shook the country early on Friday, with some fleeing their hotels as aftershocks continued for several hours.
The earthquake struck at 1.54 am in the Ionian sea, around 30 miles off the coast of Zante and sent out tremors felt as far afield as Libya, Italy, Malta and Albania.
There were fears that the quake may trigger a tsunami and British holidaymakers have said they are terrified and want to leave as soon as possible.
One photograph on Twitter showed hotel guests who ran outside with their duvets and young children to escape the tremors
Brits were not keen to hang around in Zante after the earthquake and subsequent tremors which continued into the morning
Damages are seen at the port of the western island of Zakynthos, Greece, Friday, October 26, 2018
Chanelle Ford, who is 24 weeks pregnant, wrote: 'That is something I never ever want to experience again, small tremors still happening I want out'.
Tracey Archer begged the travel agent Thomas Cook: 'Please do something!! We are stuck in Zante after an earthquake and everyone is outside the hotel in blankets.
'There's babies and young children. Please do something, we're scared and cold.'
A man looks at the damaged pier of the port of Zakynthos, following an earthquake off the Zakynthos Island, Greece
Another witness said: 'Me and my partner are staying in Zante, it woke my partner up, and we've had 3 aftershocks much smaller, the larger quake has moved several items around the room.'
Describing the tremors, one person living in Greece told EMSC they felt: 'Extremely violent shaking. Objects fell off of shelves. Loud rumbling sound.'
The quake damaged a port and a 15th century monastery, but caused no major injuries, officials and local media said.
A strong earthquake, with magnitude 6.8, shook the touristic island at 1.54 last night. No casualties or major damages were reported
Workers start to repair the damages caused by last night's earthquake at the port of the island Zakynthos
Greek authorities initially issued a tsunami warning then withdrew the alert.
Greece's Geodynamic Institute reported the quake as 6.4-magnitude, while the U.S. Geological Survey rated it 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.
'We are not facing any particular problems,' Zakynthos Mayor Pavlos Kolokotsas told Greek state broadcaster ERT. 'Calm is being restored.'
Extensive damage was avoided because quake-prone Zakynthos had adopted seismic protection codes in construction, said Efthymios Lekkas, head of Greece's Earthquake Planning and Protection Organisation said .
'The energy unleashed, based on the angle of the faultline, fanned out towards Italy,' he added.
The earthquake epicentre (red) was at a depth of 10 miles, 22 miles west of Lithakia, a village in the southern part of Zante
Italy's Il Messaggero online news site said the quake was felt hundreds of kilometres away in southern Italy. Firefighters in Calabria, Puglia and Sicily received thousands of telephone calls from worried locals.
Zakynthos was all but destroyed in a 6.8 tremor in 1953. More than 140 people were killed in an earthquake north of Athens in 1999.
The quake was fairly shallow, according to the USGS, just 14 km (8.7 miles) below the seabed, which would have amplified shaking.
The EMSC European quake agency said sea levels had risen slightly, by about 20 cm (7.87 inches), but the increase could be higher locally. It later tweeted sea level changes were also observed in Italy.
Images on social media showed a damaged outbuilding at a monastery on the island of Strofades
The quake struck at 1.54 am and was followed about half an hour later by a 5.2 aftershock. The damaged Strofades monastery
Others also described it as 'strong' or 'very strong,' saying the shaking lasted 15 to 30 seconds.
Greece lies in one of the world's most earthquake-prone regions, with thousands of quakes recorded every year. But few cause injuries or significant damage.
Zante has had severe earthquakes in the past, and as a result has a very strict building safety code.
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