Rhodes hit by 4.8-magnitude earthquake as holidaymakers describe 'the whole airport shaking'

13 June 2024, 10:32 | Updated: 13 June 2024, 10:34

A popular British tourist destination in Greece has been struck by a “crazy” 4.8 magnitude earthquake.

The island of Rhodes suffered an earthquake which reached 4.8 magnitude at 8:20pm yesterday. The magnitude could could change as experts examine the quake more closely.

The earthquake’s epicentre was 67km (42 miles) south-west of the island in the Aegean sea, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), which added that it was a “relatively shallow” quake at just 51km.

Tremors are said to have been felt as far as Turkey, the Sun reported.

It comes in an area particularly prone to seismic activity known as the ‘Greek Fault’, stretching from Rhodes down to Lefkada island.

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The EMSC say the quake should not have caused any “significant damage” but that it would have been “felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicentre”.

Twitter user Ash described the earthquake as “weird and crazy”, saying the “whole airport shook so quick outta nowhere, the walls and floor shaking”.

Neil Fraser added: “Felt a small tremor in Faliraki, wouldn’t have thought anything had it not been for an advisory warning a few seconds after.”

A spokesperson for the EMSC added: “Our monitoring service identified a second report from the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) which listed the quake at magnitude 4.9 as well.”

Southern Greece was hit by a larger earthquake in March, which registered a magnitude of 5.7 on the Richter scale.

Holiday hotspots across Greece were struck by the earthquake which some said lasted unusually long, with one witness saying: “That was a big one! The centre of the quake wasn’t close to my home but I felt the shaking for 30 seconds at least!”

Scientists predicted earlier this year that Greece could suffer a major earthquake this year reaching a catastrophic magnitude of 8.5 - higher than the devastating earthquake which killed around 60,000 people in Turkey and North-West Syria last February.

The most severe earthquake Greece has ever suffered was in 1956, when a 7.7 magnitude quake killed 53 people and destroyed multiple buildings in Amorgos, part of the Cyclades archipelago.