Kos earthquake: No major travel disruption for Irish tourists

Two killed after 6.7 magnitude quake occurs off the coast of Greek islands

Amateur video showed damaged buildings and rising floodwater on the Greek island of Kos after a magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck near major Turkish and Greek tourist destinations in the Aegean Sea. Video: Reuters

There is no major travel disruption to Irish holiday makers following a strong earth quake off the Greek island of Kos.

Irish customers are being advised to travel as normal with no large disruptions being reported by tour operations to either Turkey or Greece.

"We are monitoring the situation and work alongside the Department of Foreign Affairs but right now there is no major disruption," a spokeswoman for Sunway Holidays said.

Similarly there are no major disruptions to report from Cassidy Travel or Falcon. The Department of Foreign Affairs said it is monitoring the situation but has not been contacted by any Irish people seeking assistance.

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The 6.7-magnitude quake, which resulted in the deaths of two people, hit 12km north-east of Kos, near the Turkish coast, with a depth of 10km, the US Geological Survey said.

At least 100 others were also injured at the popular tourist destination. Some buildings were damaged.

In the Turkish city of Bodrum, several people were injured as they tried to flee the quake.

The earthquake struck at 1.31am on Friday. The two deceased have not been named but police said that one of the victims was Swedish and the other was Turkish.

They died after they were crushed by debris from either a collapsed wall or an old building, police said.

Irishman Ciaran McMahon, who is on honeymoon on Kos, told RTÉ's Morning Ireland he and his wife are safe and well but it had been a scary experience.

“The staff here at the hotel have been really excellent, making sure everyone is fed and looked after. Even when we weren’t allowed back in they were looking after us but everyone is shook,” Mr McMahon said.

Badly shaken

Spokeswoman for Cassidy Travel, Ann Marie Durkin, told RTÉ's News at One that some of the Irish people caught up in earthquake had been left badly shaken by events.

“The clients we have spoken to so far, some of them are quite shaken. They had to stay out on the street all night but they have indicated that the staff in the hotels have been excellent and we are advising them to stay in contact with the teams on the ground,” said Ms Durkin.

She said there had been no requests from holiday makers to come home at present but the option is there if people wish to come home.

“There are no flights due out on Friday, there are flights due out Saturday and they are going as ahead as scheduled. We are in contact with those operating in the area. Flights are going ahead as normal,” she said.

Holiday makers are advised to check the Department of Foreign Affairs website for travel updates as the day goes on.

The Department of Foreign Affairs can be contacted on (0) 1 408 2527.