Athens, Greece - An earthquake struck southern Greece on Tuesday morning, rattling Crete and the Cycladic islands but causing no damage or injuries, Greek authorities said.
The Athens Geodynamic Institute said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 5.3, and the US Geological Survey gave it as 5.2. The magnitudes recorded by different seismology centres often differ.
The quake struck at 8:12 am (0612GMT)on Tuesday and had an epicentre 350 kilometres southeast of Athens, beneath the seabed west of the island of Karpathos.
Local authorities said the quake was particularly felt on the island of Crete.
The epicentre was 110kms east of Crete's main city of Iraklion.
Greece is one of the world's most seismically active areas but its earthquakes rarely cause major damage or injuries.
Seismologist Stavros Tassos at the Athens Geodynamic Institute told local media that the country experiences about 2 500 to 3 000 earthquakes a year, but that usually only one or two of them cause concern.
Last June, a 6.5-magnitude quake struck near the western port city of Patras, about 120 miles west of Athens, killing two people, injuring more than 200 and damaging hundreds of buildings. In 1999, a magnitude 5.9 quake near Athens killed 143 people. - Sapa-AP