Tremors rattled Lemnos yesterday at 12:25 but the island managed to get through it. The earthquake recorded was 6.5 on the Richter scale and the epicenter was at the sea area between Lemnos and Samothrace whereas the focal depth reached 5 km.

During the night the citizens felt many aftershocks, but no strong aftershock was recorded. Seismologists, as they have stated at the beginning, are expecting a strong aftershock, but they insist that the main earthquake was the one occurred yesterday measured 6.5 on the Richter scale.

Despite the duration and the short focal depth of the earthquake, minor damages have been recorded so far mainly in old houses, three schools , two churches and the airport .

Interior Minister Yannis Michelakis and Secretary General of the Hellenic Ministry of Public Order and Citizen Protection Patroklos Georgiadis alongside police, local and military officials participated in a meeting in the aftermath of the strong earthquake.
According to the first estimations the earthquake caused the collapse of 11 uninhabited houses, two churches were damaged while there were minor damages in 13 houses and three schools which are electoral centers as well.

The ministry also announced that all infrastructure and the roads are fully operational while a 14-member civil engineers unit, including engineers from the Earthquake Planning and Protection Organization (OASP), the Technical Chamber of Greece (TEE) and the School Buildings Organization (OSK), will soon arrive in the island of Lemnos to assess the damages caused by the earthquake.

According to the mayor of Lemnos, Antonis Chatzidiamantis, who talked on private TV channel MEGA, all people are in their homes and no one has stayed out in the streets, whereas significant damages have been recorded in the Myrina museum where dozens of exhibits fell on the floor.

Seismologists stand by and monitor the progress of the north Anatolian fault where stronger earthquakes were recorded in the past.”