The Athens Geodynamic Institute said an undersea quake, 5.4 on the Richter scale, occurred at 8:50 p.m. (1850 GMT) Wednesday east of the Crete, 35 kilometers (22 miles) from the town of Sitia which was most affected and where several worried residents left their houses. Its epicenter was 52 kilometers (32 miles) below sea level.
There were with no reports of injuries or damage.
The earthquake was felt across Crete and as far as Rhodes, Karpathos and Israel.
Seismologist Emmanuel M. Scordilis of the University of Thessaloniki told The Associated Press that “quakes of this medium range depth usually have weak aftershock activity.”
