An estimated 6.0 earthquake shook Greece on Wednesday, swaying buildings and convincing many people to spend the night outside to avoid danger from aftershocks.
At least six people were rescued from rubble, but no one was seriously injured or killed, the Guardian reported.
© SAKIS MITROLIDISA woman walks past her damaged house in the village of Mesohori, near the town of Tyrnavos, on Wednesday.
A woman walks past her damaged house in the village of Mesohori, near the town of Tyrnavos, on Wednesday. (SAKIS MITROLIDIS/)
The quake's epicenter was near Larissa, an east-central city about 170 miles northwest of Athens, according to the Associated Press. Its estimated depth was just five miles below the surface, explaining why it was also felt in Albania, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Montenegro.
"Have you seen how trees move when the wind blows? That's how the houses moved," Vangelis Mouseris, who lives in the town of Damasi, told the AP. "I stood still like a statue. I wondered whose house would fall? The neighbor's house? My house? I've never felt something like this before."
© Provided by New York Daily NewsA woman sits in a field of the village of Damasi.
A woman sits in a field of the village of Damasi. (SAKIS MITROLIDIS/)
Also in Damasi, just 12 miles northwest of Larissa and closer to the epicenter, 63 students were evacuated from a school that suffered structural damage, the Guardian reported. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called the headmaster afterward to offer support.
Authorities advised people to remain outside, and a series of aftershocks struck the region, according to the AP. The strongest aftershock had a 5.2 magnitude. The Greek army set up tents on a soccer field to give people somewhere to sleep.
Greece, and other countries near the Aegean Sea including Turkey, are crisscrossed by several fault lines. In October 2020, 75 Turks and two Greeks were killed in a 7.0 quake.