Aegean quake shakes buildings in Greece and Turkey, one dead

A damaged house is seen at the village of Vrissa on the Greek island of Lesbos, Greece, after a strong earthquake shook the eastern Aegean

ISTANBUL/ATHENS (Reuters) – A powerful 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck the western coast of Turkey and the Greek island of Lesbos on Monday, killing one woman and rattling buildings from the Aegean Turkish province of Izmir to the Greek capital Athens.

The epicenter of the quake was about 84 km (52 miles) northwest of the Turkish coastal city of Izmir and 15 km south of Lesbos, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said on its website. The National Observatory of Athens put it slightly lower at 6.1.

Extensive damage was reported at a village on Lesbos, which was at the forefront of a migration crisis two years ago when hundreds of thousands of war refugees landed there seeking a gateway into Europe.

TV footage showed collapsed buildings and debris blocking narrow streets at Vrisa, a community of around 600 people to the south of the island.

“Tens of buildings have collapsed and roads are blocked off,” said Marios Apostolides, the divisional commander of the fire brigade.

Rescue team members search for victims at a collapsed building in the village of Vrissa on the Greek island of Lesbos, Greece, after a strong earthquake shook the eastern Aegean,

Rescue team members search for victims at a collapsed building in the village of Vrissa on the Greek island of Lesbos, Greece, after a strong earthquake shook the eastern Aegean, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Giorgos Moutafis

A woman, believed to be about 60, was crushed by the roof of her home and died, the island’s mayor said. Local officials said at least 10 people were injured.

The quake was felt as far away as the Greek capital of Athens, some 367 km (228 miles) southwest of the island.

Major geological fault lines cross the region and small earthquakes are common, though anything higher than 5.5 is rare. Anything exceeding that is capable of causing extensive damage.

“The trembling was really bad. Everything in my clinic started shaking wildly, we all ran outside with the patients,” said Didem Eris, a 50-year-old dentist in Izmir’s Karsiyaka district. “We are very used to earthquakes as people of Izmir but this one was different. I thought to myself that this time we were going to die.”

Social media users who said they were in western Turkey reported a strong and sustained tremor.

“We will be seeing the aftershocks of this in the coming hours, days and weeks,” said Haluk Ozener, head of Turkey’s Kandilli Observatory, adding that the aftershocks could have magnitudes of up to 5.5.

More than 600 people died in October 2011 in Turkey’s eastern province of Van after a quake of 7.2 magnitude and powerful aftershocks. In 1999, two massive earthquakes killed about 20,000 people in the densely populated northwest of the country.

(Reporting by Turkey and Athens newsrooms; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

Violence erupts in Athens on anniversary of student killing by police

A petrol bomb explodes next to riot police during clashes following an anniversary rally marking the 2008 police shooting of 15-year-old student, Alexandros Grigoropoulos, in Athens, Greece,

ATHENS (Reuters) – Hooded protesters threw petrol bombs and set off fireworks during clashes with Greek riot police in Athens on Tuesday on the eighth anniversary of a teenager’s killing by police.

The fatal shooting of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos in 2008, a year before Greece’s economic crisis began, triggered the worst riots seen in Greece for decades and they lasted for weeks.

The annual march to commemorate the incident usually draws thousands of anti-establishment and anti-austerity protesters.

Riot police stand guard beneath a Christmas decoration in front of the parliament building during an anniversary rally marking the 2008 police shooting of 15-year-old student, Alexandros Grigoropoulos, in Athens, Greece

Riot police stand guard beneath a Christmas decoration in front of the parliament building during an anniversary rally marking the 2008 police shooting of 15-year-old student, Alexandros Grigoropoulos, in Athens, Greece, December 6, 2016. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

Tuesday’s violence erupted after hundreds marched peacefully in Athens.

Small fires burned in the streets of the district in central Athens where the shooting took place. Demonstrators hurled scores of petrol bombs and rocks at police in riot gear, who responded with tear gas.

Greece is in its eighth year of recession and its economy is struggling with record high unemployment. It has called on its international lenders to abandon demands for harsher austerity once the latest bailout – the third since 2010 – ends in 2018.

(Reporting by Reuters Television; Writing by Karolina Tagaris; Editing by Gareth Jones)

Greek Protesters Storm Government Offices

Protesters stormed government offices in Athens breaking doors and overturning chairs as they tried to get to Employment Minister, Yiannis Vroutsis. The minister, who was in the office at the time of the assault, escaped the conflict unharmed.

Police made 33 arrests and used batons to disperse the crowd that managed to surge into the waiting rooms outside the main offices. Continue reading