One killed, 11 hurt as earthquake hits eastern Greece

At least one people was killed and another 11 were injured when an earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale hit Greece's Eastern Aegean Sea on Monday, Greek authorities said on Monday.

A 45-year-old woman was found dead by firefighters in the ruins in the village of Vrisa on Lesvos Island, Xinhua quoted local authorities as saying.

Major damages have been reported in Vrisa in southern Lesvos.

"Half of the village has been greatly damaged and many houses have collapsed," Nikos Karasavvas, the Deputy Mayor of Environment and Emergency of the Municipality of Lesvos was quoted by Greek News Agency AMNA as saying

The earthquake also caused damages to some other houses on Lesvos as well as the nearby Chios Island.

The Athens Institute of Geodynamics said the epicentre of the earthquake was at sea, about 45km south from Lesvos Island.

The strong tremor, which hit in early afternoon, was felt in Athens. There are aftershocks measuring from 4.6 to 3.6 on Richter scale.

Deputy Minister of Citizen Protection Nikos Toskas and General Secretary of civil protection Giannis Kapakis headed to Lesvos with helicopter to coordinate rescue efforts.

--IANS

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