A moderate earthquake with a magnitude of 4.4 was recorded in the central Mediterranean on Sunday morning, in an area roughly half-way between Malta and Crete.

The earthquake took place at 5:57am local time, and its epicentre was at 34.97°N 19.36°E at a depth of 10km. The spot is around 400km east by southeast of Malta, to the north of Benghazi.

Earthquakes are fairly common in the Mediterranean, which straddles the border between the Eurasian Plate and the African Plate.