ATHENS, Greece (AP) – A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of at least 6.1 hit the western Greek island of Lefkada on Tuesday, killing two people, sparking landslides and causing extensive damage to roads and buildings on Lefkada and nearby islands.
The temblor was felt across western Greece prompting residents on Lefkada and the nearby Ionian Sea island of Kefalonia to rush out onto the streets.
The Athens Geodynamic Institute said the undersea quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.1 and occurred at 9:10 a.m. (0710 GMT) off Greece’s western mainland, 300 kilometers (186 miles) west of Athens. The U.S. Geological Survey put the preliminary magnitude at 6.5. Different agencies often have varying preliminary magnitudes in the hours and sometimes even days after a quake.
Greek authorities were struggling to assess the damage, their efforts hampered by landslides that blocked Lefkada’s narrow, mountainous roads.
The fire department said an 82-year-old woman was killed in the village of Athani when a wall collapsed on her and a 69-year-old woman died in another village when a boulder loosened by the earthquake tumbled down onto her house. Four people were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.