UPDATED: Second tremor felt in Malta

Two earth tremors have rattled parts of Malta, the first at 11.09 a.m. and the second at 1.08 p.m.

The tremors were felt in Valletta, Msida, Floriana, Sliema and San Gwann and originated from a 6.7 Richter magnitude earthquake and a strong aftershock in the south of Greece.

A reader who works in Valletta called timesofmalta.com (Tel. 2559 4131) after the first tremor saying that she felt her desk 'moving' while her colleague said that her computer monitor shook.

A woman whose office is on the seventh floor in a Sliema building, reported that "desks, monitors and stuff were shaking".

A man whose office is in Bisazza Street, also in Sliema, told us that "the whole building was vibrating".

Another said that the tremor set off car alarms near the Mepa offices.

Jacqui Cauchi, from San Gwann, told us that she was sitting at her computer when the first tremor hit the island and that her monitor shook for a few seconds. She then called onto her husband asking him whether it was an earthquake but he didn't feel anything. Mrs Cauchi added that, "I'd also felt the earthquake in January when the whole flat shook at 6.20 in the morning". Their flat is on the fourth floor of the building.

An employee whose office is on the sixth floor in a building in Valletta, and who felt both tremors, said that he saw "the office moving from side to side".

"At the time of the tremor I was sitting in my office talking on thephone and all of a sudden for the second time my chair was tremblingand again saw the whole office moving from side to side," he toldtimesofmalta.com via email.

The man explained how he told theother person on the line that he was experiencing a tremor, and that hewas in shock. He described the first tremor as being very mild, andadded that he felt the second one to be stronger and that it lasted formore than five seconds.

"Very bad experience," he told us.

The Civil Protection Department said it received calls from residents in Valletta and its environs but no casualties or damage were reported.

The earthquake's epicentre was located in southern Greece with a magnitude of 6.7 on the Richter scale and a depth of 30km. The Seismic Monitoring Unit of the Physics department at the University of Malta reported that the tremor hit the island at 11.10 a.m. It said that a second small tremor was recorded at 11.38 a.m. The department also recorded the strong aftershock.

The earthquake was also felt in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

The Athens Geodynamic Institute said that the earthquake was off the southern tip of the Peloponnese and measured 6.5 on the Richter scale.

The Peloponnese peninsula, south of the capital, and its southern areasare popular holiday destinations among Greeks and foreigners, many ofwhom own holiday homes there. Seismologists said the quake struck at adepth of 30 km (19 miles) which minimised the possibility of majordamage.

"It originated at a depth of about 30 kilometres," seismologistEfthimios Lekkas told state television, adding that the depth meantthere was no damage however great the magnitude, "at least until now".

The aftershock further minimised the risk of more strong tremors.

"A couple of minutes ago at 1408 (1208GMT) a strong aftershock measured at 6.4 hit the same area," seismologist Gerasimos Papadopoulos told reporters. "This confirms that the first tremor was also the main one. I think the nearby inhabited areas are now in no immediate danger."

Residents in the town of Kalamata, in the southern Peloponnese, said they had felt the tremor but it was not as strong as past quakes.

"It was not as strong as other times but we felt it," a local farmer in Kalamata said.

The mayor of the nearby town of Koroni said people had panicked. "But until now we have no report of damages to houses," Thodoris Salantis told state television.

Other local officials in the area also said there was no damage recorded as yet.

Lekkas said there would be aftershocks but they would be of a lesser magnitude.

The quake was felt throughout the capital and lasted at least 15 seconds, witnesses said. "We were shaken for quite a long time, swaying back and forth," Tanya Spiropoulou from the northern Athens suburb of Marousis told Reuters.

Ten days ago another quake measuring 5.4 hit the peninsula near the city of Patras, again causing no damage.

On January 6 another earthquake hit the capital with a magnitude of 6.2 causing no damages. That tremor was also felt on the Maltese islands at 6.14 a.m.

The Seismic Monitoring Unit of the Physics department at the University of Malta is inviting the public who experienced the earthquake to visit the website of the Seismic Monitoring Unit (www.phys.um.edu.mt/seismic) and report their experience of the earthquake on the online questionnaire so as to help with the studies being carried out.

Did you feel any of the tremors? Email us on mynews@timesofmalta.com or call us on 2559 4131 and let us know.