Seismologists are wary of whether the magnitude 5 earthquake that hit Saturday night near Itea was the main one. The seismic shock was strongly felt in the wider area of ​​the Gulf of Corinth and in Attica.

OASP President and Professor of Geology Efthymios Lekkas told SKAI 100.3 that the fault was east-west at the entrance to Itea Bay, with an estimated focal depth of 2–3 kilometers.

He explained that it is currently not possible to make an assessment of whether this was a major earthquake, as we will have to see the post-seismic sequence and evolution of the phenomenon.

However, Mr. Lekkas has sent a message to citizens that they should not worry, as the area and its infrastructure can withstand much larger earthquakes, up to 6.5 on the Richter scale, such as what happened, for example, in 1995. and there was no damage.

He stated that after the earthquake in the same area was followed by four to five aftershocks of 2.5 magnitude.

“The earthquake was very strongly felt in Central Greece and Athens, although it occurred at a distance of 112 km west-northwest of the capital,” Akis Tselentis, director of the Geodynamic Institute, writes in his post.

“It has to do with the direction of the seismic waves, because the seismic fault is west to east,” he adds, and concludes, “So we have strong sensitivity in Attica, but also in Corinth.”

According to Mr. Tselentis, “to say with confidence that this is the main event, we need to wait two days to see how the post-seismic sequence develops, which has not yet given us the required number of aftershocks. I expected a little more.”

However, as he points out, “we don’t see a shift towards other large neighboring faults. Geodynamic constantly monitors the development of the phenomenon with the help of its networks and will keep you informed. Residents must always observe known measures to prevent earthquakes.”

“The Gulf of Corinth has experienced major earthquakes, so scientists should be wary of whether this was a major earthquake,” seismologist Gerasimos Papadopoulos said in an interview with SKAI 100.3.

At the same time, he stressed that local authorities and residents must be ready and take all prescribed measures, while not ruling out the possibility of a second push with a force of up to 4.5 on the Richter scale.