Deadly Earthquake kills two on the Greek Island of Lefkada.

Two people have died and a further eight have been treated for injuries following an Earthquake off the west coast of the Greek island of Lefkada in the Ionian Sea on Tuesday 17 November 2015. The United States Geological Survey recorded the event as having a Magnitude of 6.5 and a depth of 11 km, and occurring about 3 km offshore at about 9.10 am local time (about 7.10 am GMT). Both of the fatalities, who are recorded to have been elderly women killed in separate incidents in the villages of Vasiliki and Athani, and all of the injuries occurred on the island of Lefkada, where the Earthquake caused numerous landslides and destroyed a large number of houses, mainly on the southwest of the island, as well as at least one church. However the event was felt across much of western Greece, and damage has also been reported on Ithica, where about 40 houses were damaged and several small landslides reported, and Kefalonia, where about 10 houses have been damaged, mostly on the north of the island. The area has been rocked by a number of aftershocks following the initial event.

 Damage to a house in the village of Dragano on Lefkada, Dragano is thought to be the worst affected village on the island, with most of the houses currently considered uninhabitable. My Lefkada.

Southern Greece is located on the Aegean Sea Plate, a small tectonic plate caught between the African Plate to the south, the Anatolian Plate to the east and the Eurasian Plate to the northwest. The Anatolian Plate is being pushed to the west by the northward movement of the Arabian Plate to the east, pushing the Aegean Plate south and west into collision with the northward moving African Plate. Part of the African Plate is being subducted beneath the Aegean Plate along the Hellenic Trench, which runs to the south of the Greek Islands from Cyprus to Crete then northwest under the Ionian sea parallel to the Peloponnesian Coast. This is not a smooth process, as the plates frequently stick together then break apart once the pressure has built up sufficiently, leading to (fairly frequent) Earthquakes.

 The approximate location of the 17 November 2015 Lefkada Earthquake. Google Maps.

Witness accounts of Earthquakes can help geologists to understand these events, and the structures that cause them. The international non-profit organization Earthquake Report is interested in hearing from people who may have felt this event; if you felt this quake then you can report it to Earthquake Report here.

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