Tremor causes no damage

A tremor was felt yesterday afternoon following an earthquake on the seabed 20 kilometres north of the island.

Pauline Galea, a physics lecturer responsible for the seismograph station at Wied Dalam, said the tremor measured 3 on the Richter scale and was felt at 4.58 p.m.

A number of tremors occur annually in the Sicily Channel throughout the year.

The police said no structural damage was reported, although they too felt the earth shake.

The tremor was felt by a number of people living in Birkirkara, Lija, Valletta, St Julian's and Mriehel, among others. Some thought it was a fireworks factory explosion.

Yesterday's tremor was the fourth registered in Malta in recent months, though it was the second "local" earthquake.

A moderate underwater earthquake near southern Greece was felt in different areas of Malta in May, registering 5.3 on the Richter scale at Wied Dalam station.

Another tremor, measuring 3.5, was registered on January 30, after a quake occurred on the seabed about 10 kilometres off the south-east coast of Malta in the direction of Marsaxlokk.

A week earlier, the aftershock of an earth tremor off Crete was felt in parts of Malta.

Prior to that, the last tremor had been felt in February 2001, when a slight earthquake occurred in the seabed about 12 kilometres off Birzebbuga.