Earthquake Safety and Preparedness

Magnitude 6.8 Earthquake Strikes Greece; Felt in Italy and Albania

A magnitude-6.8 earthquake struck early Friday off the tourist island of Zakynthos in western Greece, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. The tremor was felt in the Greek capital of Athens, about 175 miles to the northeast, and in Italy and Albania.

A couple of people were treated for minor injuries from the quake that struck about shortly before 2 a.m. Friday local time (about 7 p.m. Thursday EDT).

The island's main harbor in the Ionian Sea was damaged though it was still functional, civil protection agency press spokesman Spyros Georgiou told the Associated Press. Power was lost in the island capital and main town, also called Zakynthos, but no major damage was reported there.

"We're checking out the villages on the island, where there are several older buildings," Georgiou said. The fire service said rockfalls were reported in another part of the island, and part of a church wall collapsed on the mainland town of Pyrgos, in the southern Peloponnese area.

The USGS said the undersea quake had a depth of 14 kilometers. It was followed by several aftershocks.

Greece lies in one of the world's most earthquake-prone regions, with thousands of quakes recorded every year. But few cause injuries or significant damage. In 1999, a magnitude 5.9 quake on the outskirts of Athens killed 143 people.

Zakynthos has had severe earthquakes in the past, and as a result has a very strict building safety code.