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A strong earthquake of 6.5 degrees on the Richter scale was felt in the maritime area between Limnos and Samothrace at 12:25 p.m. The quake was prolonged and occurred at a depth of 10-15 km. It was felt throughout Greece.

Civil protection services in Limnos and Samothrace are on the alert.

Early reports speak of minor damage in an abandoned house and a dairy farm near the airport of Lemnos.

According to information, the head of the fire-fighting service, the Secretary of Civil Protection and a group of the services for combating natural forces are preparing to leave for Limnos.

About 10 minutes after the earthquake, a second quake with a magnitude of 5 on the Richter scale was felt, with a depth of 10 km.

The quake was also felt across Bulgaria, especially in the south. There are no reports of casualties or any destruction within the territory of Bulgaria so far, said on BNR Nikolay Nikolov of the National Fire Safety and Protection of Population Service. Areas of the towns of Smolyan, Haskovo, and Kardzhali are being checked for damage, he explained.

The earthquake was also felt in Bucharest, Romania.

Meanwhile a British tourist has been slightly injured at the airport of Limnos, since a part of a suspended ceiling fell during the earthquake.

As the Athens News Agency informed from the emergency room of the hospital in Limnos, the physician at the airport took care of the tourist. According to the same source, a mother and a child from the village of Kornos who tried to hide under a table during the earthquake, were taken to the same hospital. The electricity of the hospital was interrupted during the earthquake, but as a whole there are no problems there.

According to the local police, there is no information about any injured persons on the island of Lesbos. Damage to the island's airport and the Archaeological Museum of Miriam has been reported so far.

There are cases of falling plaster from walls in older houses on the island of Limnos.

Police sources of Samothrace said that there was no information about damage on the island.

According to deputy chairman of the Earthquake Planning and Protection Organization, Efthimis Lekas, the earthquake happened in the "Northern Aegean Sea, in the Anatolian Fault."

Aftershocks

There have been many aftershocks and according to seismologist Georgia Panopoulou, one of them had a magnitude of 4.7 degrees, and another - 5 degrees.

The Department of Geophysics of the Faculty of Geology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki determined the magnitude of the quake as 6.3. According to head of the department Vassilis Karakostas, strong earthquakes have been registered in this region in the past, too.

According to Karakostas, there will probably be many aftershocks which will last for weeks. No one can say whether there will be a stronger quake. According to him, the positive thing for islanders is that the epicentre is in the sea.

Earlier, the Reuters agency, referring to the American Geodynamic Institute, said that the quake had a magnitude of 6.4 and an epicentre 7 km southwest of Alexandroupoli.

According to reports, the quake was felt in Istanbul and lasted for 10 seconds.

According to the mayor of the Dardanelles, there was panic and 100 people have been injured, but none of them seriously.

The Prime Minister

Antonis Samaras is in constant contact with Defence Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos, Interior Minister Yiannis Michelakis and Minister of Public Order and Citizens Protection Nikos Dendias.

Michelakis, together with Citizens Protection Secretary Patroklos Georgiadis, went to Limnos, accompanied by representatives of the Ministry of Defence as well as Chief of the Army, General Vassilios Papageorgiou.

Meanwhile, President of PASOK and Deputy Prime Minister Evangelos Venizelos received information from MP from Limnos and Lesbos Nikos Sifounakis, who contacted all local parties about the situation on the island after the quake. Furthermore, the Deputy Prime Minister was informed by Minister of Infrastructure Michalis Chrisohoidis about the readiness of relevant departments and their presence at the site.

By Chrisohoidis’s order, groups of engineers are already checking school buildings in which the elections will be held.

SYRIZA Engineers on the island of Limnos

Alexis Tsipras called an emergency meeting with representatives of the party, at which he was informed about the situation. At the meeting, it was decided that a party group, including engineers, should leave for the site in order to assess the consequences of the quake.

Tsipras had a telephone conversation with Yiannis Michelakis, who informed him about the scale of the problems.

The Independent Greeks party

Independent Greeks chairman Panos Kamenos gave an order for the activation of the party’s Solidarity Service. He ordered it to be ready to provide assistance in the affected areas. As stated by the party, local party cadres, who are in constant contact with Kamenos, have already initiated actions in the region.

The Communist Party

The Communist Party demanded that the damage caused by the earthquake should be immediately described and paid to those affected. The party required that seismic protection measures should be immediately initiated.