A strong 5.2 magnitude earthquake struck near the Greek island of Evia, sending tremors across a wide area as far as the capital, Athens.
The earthquake occurred at 12.27am local time and took place about 5km (3.1 miles) north west of the town of Nea Styra in Evia, according to the Institute of Geodynamics in Athens.
Tremors could be felt as far as Athens, about 50 km (31 miles) from the earthquake epicentre, Reuters reported.
There were no reports of casualties or major damage, as seismologists assured the public there was “no reason for concern”.
“This is an area that, based on historical and instrumental data, does not usually generate stronger earthquakes,” Efthymios Lekkas, the head of Greece’s earthquake planning and protection authority, told the Greek state broadcaster ERT.
“We are monitoring the situation,” he added.
Some residents on Greece’s second largest island, a popular holiday destination, said the tremors were so strong that they spent the night outdoors out of precaution.
“The earthquake lasted a long time and we were very worried. It was the first time we felt such a strong quake in our area,” one resident in Nea Styra told ERT.
As the broadcaster’s political show Off the Record went live, the camera could be seen visibly shaking for about 30 seconds as the hosts say “a strong earthquake is currently underway and continuing”.
Across the South Euboean Gulf, in the historic town of Marathon, local mayor Stergios Tsirkas said the earthquake was ”very intense” but noted that there were no reports of damage.
Evia experiences moderate and fairly common earthquake activity, most recently in May when a 4.5 magnitude earthquake struck 3km (1.9m miles) east of Prokopi, a village located in the north of the island. More than 50 houses, as well as several public buildings and schools, sustained damage as a result of the quake, according to local reports.
