M6.0 Earthquake and aftershocks, Island of Crete, Greece

[Astronuc]

M 6.0 - 7 km NNW of Thrapsanón, Greece​

https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000fes8/executive

• 2021-09-27 06:17:22 (UTC)
• 35.252°N 25.260°E
• 8.7 km depth

Seismotectonics of the Mediterranean Region and Vicinity​

The Mediterranean region is seismically active due to the northward convergence (4-10 mm/yr) of the African plate with respect to the Eurasian plate along a complex plate boundary. This convergence began approximately 50 Ma and was associated with the closure of the Tethys Sea. The modern day remnant of the Tethys Sea is the Mediterranean Sea. The highest rates of seismicity in the Mediterranean region are found along the Hellenic subduction zone of southern Greece, along the North Anatolian Fault Zone of western Turkey and the Calabrian subduction zone of southern Italy. Local high rates of convergence at the Hellenic subduction zone (35mm/yr) are associated with back-arc spreading throughout Greece and western Turkey above the subducting Mediterranean oceanic crust. Crustal normal faulting throughout this region is a manifestation of extensional tectonics associated with the back-arc spreading. The region of the Marmara Sea is a transition zone between this extensional regime, to the west, and the strike-slip regime of the North Anatolian Fault Zone, to the east. The North Anatolian Fault accommodates much of the right-lateral horizontal motion (23-24 mm/yr) between the Anatolian micro-plate and Eurasian plate as the Anatolian micro-plate is being pushed westward to further accommodate closure of the Mediterranean basin caused by the collision of the African and Arabian plates in southeastern Turkey. Subduction of the Mediterranean Sea floor beneath the Tyrrhenian Sea at the Calabrian subduction zone causes a significant zone of seismicity around Sicily and southern Italy. Active volcanoes are located above intermediate depth earthquakes in the Cyclades of the Aegean Sea and in southern Italy.

https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000fes8/region-info

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-58705376

At least one person has been killed and nine injured after a 5.8-magnitude earthquake hit the Greek island of Crete, local officials say.

The man died when the dome of a church that was being renovated in the town of Arkalochori caved in.

Aftershocks
4.8 5 km ENE of Pýrgos, Greece
2021-09-27 04:02:25 (UTC-07:00)10.0 km

4.4 4 km E of Kastélli, Greece
2021-09-27 01:21:58 (UTC-07:00)10.0 km

4.2 8 km W of Arkalochóri, Greece
2021-09-27 00:46:31 (UTC-07:00)10.0 km

4.5 1 km N of Kokkíni Cháni, Greece
2021-09-27 00:30:46 (UTC-07:00)10.0 km

4.6 Crete, Greece
2021-09-26 23:37:45 (UTC-07:00)7.4 km