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Strong earthquake rattles Greece

Reports of damage and minor injuries

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(CNN) -- A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck southern Greece early Sunday afternoon, rattling much of the country, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Officials in the island of Crete said three people were injured.

The European and Mediterranean Seismological Center put the quake's epicenter about 22 kilometers (14 miles) east of the island of Kithira, 195 km (120 miles) south of Athens. USGS said the center was 38 km (23 miles) beneath the bottom of the sea.

Witnesses in Athens said the quake rumbled for at least half a minute.

Bank manager Nikos Basdanis, 49, and his wife Vivi told CNN their home in Chania, Crete, shook and neighbors' light fittings fell from ceilings.

"We were terrified. There was an awful noise and we took shelter under the dining table," said Nikos Basdanis.

He added that the swimming pool at his apartment block was half emptied of water by the shock.

In the village of Mittata on the island of Kithira, government officials reported extensive damage -- 50 uninhabited buildings collapsed, as did one side of a church.

Greece's Homeland Protection Force was on standby if needed. Aftershocks were expected.

Seismologists said if the quake had been centered closer to shore, the damage could have been catastrophic.

The earthquake occurred at 1:34 p.m. (1134 GMT) and was felt as far away as in Cairo, Egypt, about 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) southeast of the epicenter, as well as in Amman in Jordan, The Associated Press said.

"It was a very powerful quake which shook all of Greece. There have been dozens of aftershocks, four with a magnitude of 5," said Athens Geodynamic Institute head Giorgos Stavrakakis. "The quake occurred deep undersea and that's what saved us."

Journalist Anthee Carassava contributed to this report