ATHENS, Greece—An earthquake with preliminary magnitude 5.3 struck off the southern island of Crete on Friday, Greek authorities said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injury.
The Athens Geodynamic Institute said the undersea quake occurred at 7:28 p.m. local time (1628GMT; 12:28 p.m. EDT) off the island’s southern coast and its epicenter was at a depth of 25 miles.
Greece is one of the most earthquake-prone parts of the world, and Crete itself has a high occurrence of quakes. Most cause little damage and fatalities are rare. However, in 1999 an earthquake near Athens killed 143 people.
