September 7, 1999
Web posted at: 4:05 p.m. EDT (2005 GMT)

From staff and wire reports

ATHENS, Greece (CNN) -- At least 27 people were killed Tuesday when a powerful earthquake struck just north of Athens, trapping dozens beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings.

Dozens more were reported missing, and rescue workers were on the scene digging through the debris in search of survivors.

The 10-second quake, registering a magnitude of 5.8, struck just before 3 p.m. (1200 GMT) and was centered about 24 kilometers (15 miles) northwest of the Greek capital.

Thousands of frightened Athenians ran from swaying buildings into the streets, where chunks of concrete, glass and metal rained down from damaged buildings.

Journalist John Psaropolous told CNN that 50 to 100 buildings collapsed in the quake, including two factories. At least 70 people were believed trapped underneath the collapsed Ricomex detergent factory in the Metamorphosi suburb, one of the worst-hit areas.

Several children were injured in a damaged kindergarten and taken to the hospital. None of the children was killed.

Many more buildings in a heavily populated area of older apartment buildings were damaged.

"The emergency crews are still digging through the collapsed buildings that have been reported," Psaropolous said. "But again it is very hard to talk about any number of injured or killed because ... they are obviously going to be working into the night. So there is no fixed figure on casualties."

The epicenter appeared to be located between the working-class suburb of Menidi and Mount Parnes, which is a national park and sparsely inhabited.

The quake also knocked out electricity and triggered traffic jams when traffic lights stopped working. Phone lines were clogged by people trying to locate friends and relatives.

Cracks were reported in buildings in the historic district of Plaka at the foot of the Acropolis, but there was no word on any damage to the historic ruins of the Greek capital.

"We had a very strong shock," said George Skordilis, a seismologist with the Athens Seismological Institute. "There has been aftershock activity but we can't make any forecasts."

On August 17, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake hit neighboring Turkey, killing more than 15,000 people.

There was no clear connection with the Turkish quake, Skordilis said, but "we can say there is increased earthquake activity in the eastern Mediterranean."

Greek scientists told local media the quake was the strongest to hit Greece since 1981, when it was rocked by a tremor with a magnitude of 6.6.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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