Athens, Greece – A powerful earthquake shook Greece on Sunday and was felt as far away as the Middle East and Italy.
Minor damage was reported in southern Greece, and authorities on the island of Crete said three people were slightly injured.
No tsunami warnings were issued.
The Athens Geodynamic Institute said the epicenter of the 6.9-magnitude quake was beneath the seabed about 125 miles south of Athens and 12 miles east of the island of Kithira in the Sea of Crete.
“It was a very powerful quake, which shook all of Greece. There have been dozens of aftershocks,” institute head Giorgos Stavrakakis said. “The quake occurred deep undersea, and that’s what saved us.”
Stavrakakis said he did not expect any serious aftershocks.
The earthquake, which lasted several seconds, occurred at 1:34 p.m. and was felt as far away as Cairo, about 745 miles southeast of the epicenter, and Amman, Jordan.
Clarice Nassif Ransom, a U.S. Geological Survey spokeswoman in Washington, said scientists project that as many as 6 million people may have felt the earthquake. The USGS reported the magnitude at 6.7.
