Europe Hit By Third Major Quake In Days

6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.

(Matthew 24)

Europe hit by third major quake in days as tremor strikes Crete

Andy Wells

Southern Europe has been hit by its third major earthquake in days after a powerful undersea tremor rocked the Greek holiday island of Crete.

The US Geological Survey gave a preliminary magnitude of 6.0 for the quake, which occurred on Wednesday morning at a depth of 44 miles and was also felt on the southern mainland of Greece.

There were no immediate reports of any injuries or major damage to buildings.

The quake comes just one day after at least 24 people were killed and more than 600 injured in a powerful pre-dawn earthquake in Albania.

The 6.4 magnitude quake was felt across the southern Balkans early on Tuesday and was followed by multiple aftershocks.

Just hours later in nearby Bosnia, another tremor with a preliminary magnitude of 5.4 struck south-east of the capital and rattled Sarajevo.

There were no immediate reports of casualties and only minor damage in that earthquake.

Tuesday’s quake in Albania knocked down apartment buildings and hotels while people slept, and rescue crews worked late into the evening to free people who were believed to be trapped.

There was no indication as to how many people might still be buried in the rubble, and neighbouring countries and EU nations sent search-and-rescue crews to help.

Local television stations in the early hours after the quake showed footage of a young boy being rescued from a collapsed building in the coastal town of Durres, 20 miles west of the capital, Tirana.

The government on Wednesday declared a day of mourning for the victims, saying flags would be flown at half-mast.

The US Geological Survey said the magnitude-6.4 quake, which struck just before 4am local time, had an epicentre 19 miles north-west of Tirana at a depth of 12 miles.

The scores of aftershocks included three with preliminary magnitudes of between 5.1 and 5.4.

The worst-hit areas were Durres, where 11 of the dead were found in collapsed buildings, and the northern town of Thumane, where another seven bodies were pulled from the rubble, according to the defence ministry.

In total at least three hotels, a residential villa and an apartment building collapsed in Durres, and one apartment building in Thumane.

One person died after jumping from his home to escape in Kurbin, 30 miles north of the capital, while another person was killed on a road that collapsed in the northern town of Lezha.