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Two women were killed and at least four people, including two children, were injured during a strong earthquake, with its epicentre near the island of Lefkada this morning

One of the women, a 64-year-old, died after the wall of her home collapsed over her. The tragic incident occurred in the village of Ponti, following the breakdown of a large rock that slid full force onto the wall of the house, crushed it, thus causing deadly injuries to the woman.

A little later, Lefkada's deputy governor, Dionisis Halikyas, confirmed the death of a second woman, this time in Athani where the damage is enormous. The woman again died in her home under collapsing walls.

Four people with light injuries have been admitted so far to Lefkada hospital: an 88-year-old woman from Pinakochori, a 10-year-old boy from the region of Ligia, a 45-year-old man from Lefkada, and a 12-year-old from Vasiliki.

Meanwhile, geology assistant professor at the University of Patras Efthimios Sokos said it is still too early to say whether the morning quake with a magnitude of 6.1 on the Richter scale is the primary one. "We have to wait hours, even days, to be sure that today's quake was the main one," he said in a statement to the Athens news agency AMNA.

Footage from a security camera in a shop shows the time of the quake.

Traffic has been hampered and at times impossible.

The epicentre of the aftershock, which occurred two hours after the first big quake and had a magnitude of Richter 5.2, was located 23 km from Lefkada and had a focal depth of only 2 km. According to the chairman of the Office for Earthquake Planning and Protection, Efthimios Lekas, 20 aftershocks of over 2.5 Richter have been registered so far.

Along with the deputy minister for infrastructure, Panagiotis Sgouridis, and the chief secretary of Civil Protection, Lekas went to Lefkada. Teams of seismologists and engineers, and the deputy director of the Fire Brigade, are already on the island, along with other crews of experts in mitigating the consequences of natural disasters.

At the same time, authorities have not confirmed the rumours about a third victim. According to Vangelis Andreatos, Civil Defence director for the Ionian Islands Region, the man who was taken for dead had actually been trapped under debris, but was able to squeeze himself out and was now safe. Andreatos urged the Greek army's General Staff to dispatch tents and sleeping bags to Lefkada.

According to GRReporter's sources in Lefkada, there are concerns that the death toll could rise because there are many rockslides near settlements throughout the southern part of Lefkada. At 13.00 hours the rescue teams of the Fire Brigade had not yet reached Athani, where the devastation has been described as 'enormous'.

In an amateur video, a Karia resident shows the situation in the region after the quake. The village residents are staying out in the open in the village centre, and the surrounding roads are rife with landslides and large fallen rocks that prevent traffic. In places, the carriageway has been cracked or split open by the quake.

Expect further details.