One dead after strong quake rattles Greek island of Crete

A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.8 struck the southern Greek island of Crete on Monday, killing one man.

The earthquake killed a man who was working in a church that collapsed, ERT public television reported, along with other local media outlets reporting some damage to buildings in villages near the epicentre.

The Athens Geodynamic Institute said the quake struck at 9:17 a.m. local time (0617 GMT), with an epicentre 246 kilometres (153 miles) south southeast of the Greek capital, Athens.

The European-Mediterranean Seismological Center and the US Geological Survey gave a preliminary magnitude of 6.0, with an epicentre seven kilometres (4 miles) north of the village of Thrapsano. It is common for different seismological institutes to give varying magnitudes for an earthquake in the initial hours and days after an event.

Several aftershocks also struck the area, with the EMSC giving a preliminary magnitude of 4.6 for the strongest one.

Residents of the city of Heraklion rushed out into the streets. Local media in Crete reported some damage, mainly with collapsing walls of old stone buildings in villages near the epicentre of the temblor on the eastern part of the island. Children were evacuated from schools.

Heraklion mayor Vassilis Lambrinos told Greek Skai television that there were no immediate reports from emergency services of any injuries or severe damage. He said schools were all evacuated and were to be checked for structural damage.