Patras earthquake jolts western Greece

"We have never lived through something like this before"

A 6.1 magnitude earthquake hit southern Greece Sunday triggering landslides and trapping at least 11 people.

The epicentre was 124 miles west of Athens, near Patras, Geece.

The quake had a magnitude of 6.5, the Athens Geodynamic Institute said, and could be felt in the capital.

Greece is one of Europe's most earthquake-prone countries.

The US Geological Survey said the earthquake had a magnitude of 6.1.

Experts have warned that aftershocks are likely as the quake's epicentre in the Peloponnese region was close to the ground's surface.

"It was terrible," Makis Paraskevopoulos, the mayor of the southern town of Pyrgos, told state television.

"We have never lived through something like this before. It was very long and we felt that the town was being flattened."

Another 15 have been injured as a result of the quake, many trying to flee their homes, according to Greece's NET television. It struck around 3:30 p.m. local time and measured 6.1 in magnitude, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Greek Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos has called on assessment and rescue teams to head to the region.

Earthquake Details

Magnitude 6.1
Date-Time Sunday, June 08, 2008 at 12:25:29 UTC
Sunday, June 08, 2008 at 03:25:29 PM at epicenter
Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location 38.029°N, 21.464°E
Depth 10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program
Region GREECE
Distances 35 km (20 miles) SW of Patras, Greece
125 km (80 miles) NNW of Kalamata, Greece
190 km (120 miles) SSE of Ioannina, Greece
200 km (125 miles) W of ATHENS, Greece
Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 7.7 km (4.8 miles); depth fixed by location program
Parameters NST= 73, Nph= 73, Dmin=393.2 km, Rmss=1.48 sec, Gp= 47°,
M-type=moment magnitude (Mw), Version=7

© AlaskaReport.com All Rights Reserved.