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ATHENS (Reuters) – A massive earthquake with a magnitude of at least 6.4 hit Greece early on Friday, seismic monitoring services said. There were no initial reports of major damage or casualties.
The epicenter of the earthquake, initially reported with a magnitude of 7.0, was in the Ionian Sea, 133 km southwest of Patras, in the Peloponnese.
An official of the fire brigade in Athens said there was no early announcement of damage or casualties. Attention has focused on the island of Zakynthos, where reports have indicated that electricity was cut off.
Local news sites reported that a 15th century monastery in the Strofades area of the island had been damaged.
The shock was felt in the Greek capital, Athens, and as far as Italy.
The Italian online news site Il Messaggero announced that the quake had been felt hundreds of kilometers away in southern Italy. Firefighters from Sicily, Calabria and Puglia have received thousands of phone calls to get information on the earthquake.
The earthquake was relatively shallow, only 16.5 km below the seabed, which would have amplified the tremors.
It started at 1:54 (22:54 GMT) and was followed about half an hour later by a 5.2 second reply. Greece overlaps two tectonic plates and often has earthquakes.
The Geodynamic Institute of Greece reported a tremor of 6.4 to 50 kilometers south of Zakynthos. One official confirmed that a tsunami warning had been triggered, which is the case for tremors of more than 5.5.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) put the quake at 6.8.
"It was powerful, things collapsed," said a witness in Katastari, Greece, 36 kilometers north of the epicenter, on the site of the Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC).
Shortly after the earthquake, there were only 3 publications on the EMSB's testimonials page, which is unusual for an earthquake of this magnitude.
Report by Angeliki Koutantou in Athens Additional report by Sandra Maler in Washington; Edited by Peter Cooney, Toni Reinhold
