ATHENS, Greece -- A strong earthquake shook Athens for nearly 10 seconds Tuesday afternoon, toppling some buildings and sending hundreds of thousands of terrified people into the streets. At least five people died and dozens were reported missing.
People were hit by falling debris -- glass, concrete and marble slabs -- and at least three victims were killed when a building collapsed in the Menidi suburb north of Athens, police said. At least two fatal heart attacks were blamed on the quake, which had a preliminary magnitude of 5.9.As many as 20 people were trapped in the ruins of a flattened apartment building, authorities said. In a collapsed section of a factory, voices were heard crying for help.
Dozens of other buildings collapsed or suffered serious damage in the sprawling Athens metropolis. The most serious damage apparently occurred in Menidi and other northern areas close to the quake's epicenter.
There was no apparent damage to ancient sites, including the Acropolis and the towering columns of the Temple of Zeus.
A series of aftershocks -- as strong as 4.4 -- swayed buildings and kept people outdoors after one of the strongest quakes in years in the Athens area. Many Athenians have ancestral homes in other parts in the quake-prone nation and have memories of devastating temblors.
Chunks of concrete fell from buildings, landing atop cars and shattering on streets and sidewalks. Electric power and telephone service was out in some parts of this city of more than 5 million. People at an afternoon concert in a central Athens auditorium screamed and raced for the exits.
According to the Athens Seismological Institute, the 2:56 p.m. quake was centered about 12 miles north of Athens. The epicenter was between the working class suburb of Menidi and Mount Parnes, which is a national park and sparsely inhabited.
The quake was felt across the Aegean Sea in Izmir, Turkey, about 180 miles east of the Greek capital.
In Athens, people sought safety anywhere clear of buildings: on road median strips, parking lots and in the National Garden in central Athens -- near the site of a concert that was planned for later Tuesday to aid victims of last month's quake in neighboring Turkey that claimed more than 15,000 lives.