Greece Hit With 6.1 Magnitude Earthquake
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ATHENS — Greece was hit by an earthquake classified as “strong” on the Richter magnitude scale yesterday, the U.S. Geological Survey and Greek scientists said, killing two and sending hundreds of panicked Greeks into the streets.
One man was killed when he was hit by falling masonry while an 80-year-old woman suffered a heart attack in hospital after being injured, the Interior Minister, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, said, according to an e-mail statement. At least 37 people were slightly injured, many as they fled their homes and apartments when the quake hit, and 50 older buildings collapsed.
Yesterday’s earthquake had a magnitude of 6.1 and occurred 125 miles west of Athens at a depth of about 7.7 kilometers, the American agency said on its Web site. The tremor was felt in the Greek capital, the most populous city. Athens and Thessaloniki observatories said the earthquake had a magnitude of 6.5 on the Richter scale.
“There will be a number of aftershocks for several days,” Mr. Pavlopoulos warned. “Some may be as strong at 5.5 Richter.”
Strong tremors are common in Greece because the country lies in one of the world’s most active earthquake zones, between Europe and Africa. In September 1999, an earthquake measuring 5.9 hit Athens, resulting in the deaths of 143 people.
In January this year, southern Greece was struck by an earthquake measured at 6.7 by the USGS and 6.5 by Greek seismologists.
A family of three and a young child reported trapped in rubble in two villages in the Peloponnese region, which bore the brunt of the tremor, were rescued, Margaritis Mouzas of the country’s civil protection agency said on NET.
Landslides in the aftermath of the earthquake blocked access on some roads in the region, including between Athens and the port city of Patras, the Athens News Agency reported. OSE, the Greek railway operator, suspended some services after tracks buckled from the quake.
Mr. Pavlopoulos said special teams would be sent to check the damage suffered by schools in the region. The Greek tourism ministry said in a statement that no hotels or accommodation in the area had been damaged by the earthquake and that there had been no reports of foreign tourists being injured.
