A strong earthquake registering at 6.0 on the Richter scale hit the western Greek island of Lefkada Tuesday, killing two people and damaging roads and buildings, local authorities said.
Police said a woman in her sixties was killed when her house collapsed after being struck by a falling rock in the seaside village of Ponti. Another woman was killed in the village of Athani, according to police.
The quake also damaged the main road in the southwestern part of the island.
The earthquake, with an epicenter in the Ionian Sea, about 300 kilometers (185 miles) west of Athens, occurred at about 9:10 a.m. local time, according to the Athens Observatory's geodynamic institute.
The U.S. Geological Survey put the preliminary magnitude at 6.5. Different metrological agencies often have varying preliminary magnitudes in the hours and sometimes days after a quake.
Earthquakes are common in Greece, which is one of the world's most seismically active areas, and counts for more than half of all earthquakes registered in Europe.
A severe quake near Athens in 1999 killed 143 people, and caused major damage in the Greek capital.
