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Earthquake Rattles Olympic Venues
2 hours, 3 minutes ago
ATHENS, Greece - An earthquake rattled Olympic venues Tuesday in and around Athens.
AP Photo
The Athens Geodynamic Institute said the tremor had a preliminary magnitude of 4.5 and occurred at 3:38 p.m. local time. It was centered about 42 miles northeast of Athens, 12 miles beneath the Aegean Sea.
"There is no reason to panic. It was a very small quake," said Giorgos Stavrakakis, a seismologist with the Geodynamic Institute. "It is a very active area and we often have quakes there."
The head of the Greek Civil Defense Agency, Panagitiotis Fourlas, said there were no reports of injuries or damage from the quake, felt throughout the greater Athens area.
Earthquakes (news - web sites) are common in Greece, one of the most seismically active countries in Europe.
In 1999, a 5.9-magnitude quake near Athens killed 143 people, injured about 2,000 and left thousands more homeless.
Venues including the Olympic Village and the 9,000-seat Ano Liossia Olympic Hall for wrestling and judo were built near the fault line and designed to withstand a potentially massive quake.
An earthquake also hit Nagano, Japan, during the 1998 Winter Games, jolting athletes and spectators but causing no major damage.
Earthquake Rattles Olympic Venues
2 hours, 3 minutes ago
ATHENS, Greece - An earthquake rattled Olympic venues Tuesday in and around Athens.
AP Photo
The Athens Geodynamic Institute said the tremor had a preliminary magnitude of 4.5 and occurred at 3:38 p.m. local time. It was centered about 42 miles northeast of Athens, 12 miles beneath the Aegean Sea.
"There is no reason to panic. It was a very small quake," said Giorgos Stavrakakis, a seismologist with the Geodynamic Institute. "It is a very active area and we often have quakes there."
The head of the Greek Civil Defense Agency, Panagitiotis Fourlas, said there were no reports of injuries or damage from the quake, felt throughout the greater Athens area.
Earthquakes (news - web sites) are common in Greece, one of the most seismically active countries in Europe.
In 1999, a 5.9-magnitude quake near Athens killed 143 people, injured about 2,000 and left thousands more homeless.
Venues including the Olympic Village and the 9,000-seat Ano Liossia Olympic Hall for wrestling and judo were built near the fault line and designed to withstand a potentially massive quake.
An earthquake also hit Nagano, Japan, during the 1998 Winter Games, jolting athletes and spectators but causing no major damage.
