Crete Earthquake Video Shows Buildings Shake, People Fleeing

Crete was shaken by a strong earthquake on Monday morning, and video footage from close shows a certain panic in the streets.

The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) announced the magnitude 6 earthquake hit the Greek island of Crete at 9:17 a.m. local time, at a depth of 6.2 miles.

The epicenter was 4 miles north of the village of Thrapsano, 16 miles south-southeast of the city of Heraklion and 153 miles southeast of Athens.

This tremor, combined with a minimum of nine aftershocks, many with a minimum of magnitude 4 power, has resulted in the death of at least one person and in nine others being injured, as well as significant structural damage to numerous buildings.

"A man who was reportedly doing maintenance works at the church of Profitis Ilias in Arkalochori, #Crete has been confirmed dead following the collapse of the church's dome," wrote journalist Daphne Tolis on Twitter.

Video has now emerged on social media, showing panic as the earthquake occurred.

CCTV footage shows a man blindly sprinting from a shop into a road, forcing a car to slow, while the store's canopy in the foreground is visibly shaking.

The poster of the dramatic moments of the quake captioned the clip with details of disquiet among locals.

He tweeted: "Continuous aftershocks in Heraklion, people are on the streets and in parks, anxiety and fear are the only emotions that prevail.

"See how the front of my shop is shaking. That was [an] awesome #earthquake 5.8 that lasted 25 seconds."

Imperial College seismologist Dr. Stephen Hicks believes Monday's earthquake is a "significant event" and the strongest in more than 60 years.

He tweeted: "Overall it seems like today's M6.0 quake is the largest to have struck on-land Crete since a M6.1 rupture along the south coast of the island in 1959.

"So today is quite a significant event in terms of generational memories of strong shaking on the island."

Many other people have taken to social media to share their tales of the terrifying earthquake experience.

Darren Robinson tweeted: "Just as we were finishing breakfast it sounded like a lorry [truck] was going to come through the wall and everything shook."

And Barrie Urquhart added on Twitter: "Well that was scary, strange and cool all at same time for the 5 seconds it lasted."

English-language Greek newspaper The National Herald quoted government spokesperson Yannis Oikonomou as saying all relevant ministries have been mobilized following the Crete earthquake.

He said: "Unfortunately, we were informed about the loss of a fellow citizen.

"It seems that so far we do not have any citizens trapped. Those who were trapped and rescued have been taken to hospital. I think the health authorities have dealt with the problems.

"Competent units of the Infrastructure Ministry have already started the inspections and if necessary, additional forces will depart for Crete. The whole state mechanism is on alert."