Strong Earthquake Hits Greece, Killing Two and Injuring Dozens

ATHENS, Greece-A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.5 struck southwestern Greece on Sunday, flattening homes and killing at least two people and injuring dozens more, authorities said.The quake struck at 3:25 p.m. local time near the port city of Patras, about 120 miles west of Athens in the northwestern Peloponnese, the Athens Geodynamic Institute said. It said the epicenter was close to the surface.Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos said two people had been killed and 37 were injured, most of them lightly.
Of the dead, one man was killed by a falling roof while the other was a woman who had been lightly injured in the quake, but died later in hospital of a heart attack, Pavlopoulos said.The area was rattled by frequent aftershocks, and seismologists urged caution."We are watching the seismic activity with great attention. We are not yet certain that the danger is completely over," said Athens Geodynamic Institute director Gerasimos Papadopoulos. Although it was unlikely that there would be a stronger quake, "there is still concern. ... For this reason, and because strong aftershocks are expected, great care must be taken."Military rescue helicopters and transport planes were placed on standby in case they were needed for rescue efforts, the National Defense General Staff said. A specialized Air Force rescue crew was also on standby, while a team of fire department rescuers were being flown to the site by a C-130 transport plane, it said.The quake damaged the air traffic control tower of the Andravida military airport, but a secondary tower was being used and the airport remained open, the general staff said.Local authorities said there were widespread reports of collapsed and severely damaged homes from the quake felt as far away as southern Italy."I have seen nothing like that in my lifetime," an 88-year-old woman in Kato Ahaia, one of the areas near the epicenter, told state-run NET television. "When the earthquake began, I was in bed. I tried to leave but fell down. I crawled on my knees to the front door." She said neighbors got her out of the house.But for an earthquake of such intensity beneath an inhabited area, the damage was relatively light, Pavlopoulos said."An initial assessment shows we don't have widespread damage," the interior minister said."The consequences of an earthquake of this intensity and at this depth were relatively limited."Two families — seven people in total — who had been trapped in collapsed houses were rescued in the village of Fostaina, about 20 miles south of Patras, and in the village of Vartholomio, authorities said.Television footage showed rescue crews pulling a 9-year-old girl from beneath the rubble of her house in Fostaina and being placed on a stretcher. The girl was conscious and Pavlopoulos said she had suffered only slight injuries.Police said earlier reports that an elderly man and a young boy were trapped in another building turned out to be unfounded.The fire service said a landslide cut off part of the Corinth to Patras highway. Parts of Patras were left without power after the quake, but electricity was gradually restored during the afternoon.The U.S. Geological Survey gave a preliminary magnitude of 6.1 for the quake, while the Athens Geodynamic Institute gave a preliminary magnitude of 6.5. Magnitudes often vary in the first hours or days after an earthquake.Greece is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries. In 1999, a 5.9-magnitude quake near Athens killed 143 people and left thousands homeless.

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As in the days of Noah.....