Earthquake in southern Greece leaves 2 dead and 50 injured

An earthquake of intensity 6.5 on the Richter scale hit the southern Greece on Sunday, killing at least two people and leaving 50 others injured, besides destroying houses and a military base, authorities reported.
Residents rushed in panic to the streets and some jumped drawn when the earthquake that was felt even in Italy, occurred (at 9.25 am the time of Brasilia) to 54 km south of the port city of Patras.
The tremor also caused desabamentos of land and banned a wide road.
"We had two deaths as a result of the earthquake," said the Greek Minister of Interior, Prokopis Pavlopoulos. "There are many more injured. (Rescue teams) are in the affected areas since the beginning, and even more are on the way."
A man was found dead under a wall in desabada Kato Achaia, near the epicenter, while a woman of 80 years, from a village nearby, died in hospital suffering from injuries.
"I never felt a thing before, I mergulhei for under the table and expect that end," told Reuters by telephone, the student Vassilis Lambropoulos, of Patras.
"When completed, the entire neighborhood went to the streets and tried to connect to its known, but the communications network was congested, raising the fear," he added.
Teams of regaste concentrated their efforts on Kato Achaia, where the greatest damage apparently occurred, a police officer told Reuters.
The Greek television showed images of residents in the wreckage revirando panic trying to find their belongings, while others vagavam through the streets confused and afraid.
At least four persons including a girl who was arrested in houses that desabaram, were rescued soon after the earthquake, according to firefighters.
There are also reports of two more people arrested in the rubble in Kato Achaia, which was not confirmed by authorities.
Tremor side continued to occur, with many residents of the area were preparing to spend the night outside the home and in cars, for fear of recurrence.
"My life passed in front of my eyes," said Aphrodite Arachoviti, 22 years, the Reuters by telephone. "I never spent on anything like that. Many people are still out there. They go to sleep on the streets tonight."
The federal highway Athens-Patras was blocked by a collapse of land caused by the earthquake, interditando one of the main routes of transportation in the South. The authorities worked to reopen it.
The tremors were felt as far as southern Italy, but official in the region found no damage or victims.
The earthquake was felt in Athens, where 143 people died in 1999 in an earthquake of 5.9 on the Richter scale. Greece is frequently hit by earthquakes, most without major damage.
In January, an earthquake of 6.5 on the Richter scale shook Greece, with the epicenter also in the Peloponnese peninsula. (Reportage additional Michele Kambas in Cyprus and Phillip Pulella in Italy).