Quake Rattles Southern Greece, No Casualties

The Athens Geodynamic Institute said it was off the southern tip of the Peloponnese and measured 6.5 on the Richter scale.

An earthquake shook southern Greece just after 12 p.m. (1000 GMT) on Thursday and was felt as far away as the Egyptian capital Cairo but there were no reports of casualties.

The Athens Geodynamic Institute said it was off the southern tip of the Peloponnese and measured 6.5 on the Richter scale.

The Peloponnese peninsula, south of the capital, and its southern areas are popular holiday destinations among Greeks and foreigners, many of whom own holiday homes there.

Seismologists said the quake struck at a depth of 30 km (19 miles) which minimised the possibility of major damage.

"It originated at a depth of about 30 kilometres," seismologist Efthimios Lekkas told state television, adding that the depth meant there was no damage however great the magnitude, "at least until now".

Residents in the town of Kalamata, in the southern Peloponnese, said they had felt the tremor but it was not as strong as past quakes.

"It was not as strong as other times but we felt it," a local farmer in Kalamata said.

The mayor of the nearby town of Koroni said people had panicked. "But until now we have no report of damage to houses," Thodoris Salantis told state television.

Other local officials in the area also said there was no damage recorded as yet.

Lekkas said there would be aftershocks but they would be of a lesser magnitude.

The quake was also felt throughout the capital and lasted at least 15 seconds, witnesses said.

"We were shaken for quite a long time, swaying back and forth," Tanya Spiropoulou from the northern Athens suburb of Marousis said.

Ten days ago another quake measuring 5.4 hit the peninsula near the city of Patras, again causing no damage. In late January an earthquake hit the capital with a magnitude of 5.0.