Kefalonia, Greece: Magnitude 5.4 Earthquake hits the island

A magnitude 5.4 earthquake hit between the islands of Kefalonia and Zakynthos in the Ionian Sea on Thursday 8 September morning. The earthquake occurred a few minutes after 10:30 local time. There were no reports of injuries to people.

However, in Zakynthos, Greek authorities closed off the famous Navagio Beach, also known as Shipwreck Beach, following a landslide caused by the earthquake. The area has been evacuated, and tourists and boats are prohibited from accessing the beach.

Videos posted on social media show a major landslide on the left cliff of the beach which is visited by thousands every day.

According to the Geodynamics Institute of the National Observatory of Athens, the epicenter of the tremor is located in the sea area 57 kilometers southwest of the town of Lixouri at Kefalonia.

Initially, the Geodynamics Institute had identified the intensity of the earthquake as 5.3 Richter; however, a short time later, the assessment was revised to 5.4.

Back in 1953, within four days from August 9th to August 12th, the island was struck by three great earthquakes, all measuring above 6.0 on the Richter scale (with 6.4 on August 9th, 6.8 on August 11th, and 7.2 on August 12th). These led to the death of 455 people.

In addition, the event caused widespread infrastructure damage throughout Kefalonia and Ithaca.

Greece lies in a highly seismically-active region. The vast majority of earthquakes cause no damage or injuries, however.

In October 2020, an earthquake that struck the eastern Greek Aegean island of Samos and the nearby Turkish coast killed two people in Samos and at least seventy-five people in Turkey.

The country is located in a complex geological boundary zone in the eastern Mediterranean between the African and Eurasian Plates. The northern part of Greece lies on the Eurasian Plate while the southern part lies on the Aegean Sea Plate.

The Aegean Sea Plate is moving southwestward with respect to the Eurasian Plate at about thirty millimeters (one inch) per year while the African Plate is subducting northward beneath the Aegean Sea Plate at a rate of about forty millimeters (1.6 inches) per year.