The Mail Online — The Athens Geodynamic Institute said the undersea quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.1 and occurred at 9.10am local time, off Greece’s western mainland, about 186 miles west of Athens.
An 82-year-old woman was killed in the village of Athani when a wall collapsed on her, while the regional governor’s office said they had received a ‘credible report’ of a second fatality.
A second woman in her sixties was killed by a falling rock caused by a landslide on her house in the village of Ponti Vassilikis, the island’s deputy mayor Christos Kaliforis told Vima radio.
Greek news agency ANA-MPA said four people had been taken to hospital with light injuries.
Roads in the so
uth-east of the Ionian island, closest to the quake’s epicentre in the sea, and several stone houses had been damaged. An old church also collapsed.
The island’s network of mountainous roads was damaged by landslides, with schools shut on both Lefkada and Kefalonia as a precaution.
Today a series of aftershocks were also hitting the island – including one with a 5.2 magnitude more than an hour after the main quake.
Mr Galiatsatos called on residents to avoid any structures that appeared damaged until authorities could assess their safety.
Earthquakes are common in Greece, which is one of the world’s most seismically active areas, though serious injuries and deaths are rare.
A severe quake near Athens in 1999 killed 143 people, and caused extensive damage through the Greek capital.
