ATHENS - An earthquake measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale shook western Greece early Tuesday but there were no reports of casualties or major damage.
The first quake hit at 6:17 am (03h17 GMT) followed by a series of others with the same magnitude, the Athens Observatory's Geodynamic Institute said, adding that the tremors rocked the towns of Messologui, Agrinio and Thermo.
The high school in the town of Thermo, home to some 3,500 people, was damaged, a police source said, adding that engineers in the districts of Aitoloakarnania and Athens were checking buildings which had developed cracks.
A seismologist from the Athens Observatory's Geodynamic Institute, Georges Drakatos, told the public television channel Net that there had been "peculiar seismic activity" in the region, something seismologists were following closely.
Another seismologist from the same institute played down fears that aftershocks could wreak havoc.
"It's normal to have a series of aftershocks and this is going to continue for at least another 48 hours, but for the present we are not unduly worried," Fanis Halaris told AFP.
Greece is the European country most at risk from earthquakes, suffering about half of all the quakes registered on the continent.
04/10/2007 14:13 GMT