Strong earthquake rocks western Greece, damage reported

Sunday, January 26, 2014, 7:16 PM -

A very strong earthquake of a preliminary 5.8-magnitude has hit the Greek island of Kefalonia.

The Athens Geodynamic Institute said the 3:55 p.m. temblor had its epicenter 279 km west of Athens, near the town of Lixouri on the island The epicenter's depth is at 17 km below the surface.

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A local news website, Kefaloniapress.gr reports some damage on roads and buildings in the towns of Lixouri and Argostoli, the islands largest, but no casualties. 

Such earthquakes are not rare in Greece. Kefalonia and the nearby island of Zakynthos were devastated by a 7.2-strong quake in 1953.

With files from The Associated Press