Strong earthquake rocks Sicily, buildings damaged

<br>ROME (AP) _ A 5.6-magnitude earthquake followed by several aftershocks rocked Sicily early Friday, injuring three people and damaging some buildings in the capital, Palermo, officials said. <br><br>The

Friday, September 6th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

ROME (AP) _ A 5.6-magnitude earthquake followed by several aftershocks rocked Sicily early Friday, injuring three people and damaging some buildings in the capital, Palermo, officials said.

The Italian news agency ANSA said two elderly people died of heart attacks as an indirect result of the quake.

The quake had its epicenter about 25 miles northeast of Palermo in the Tyrrhenian Sea, said Mario Cerrone, an engineer with the Palermo department of civil protection.

The U.S. National Earthquake Center in Golden, Colo. estimated the preliminary magnitude at 6.1, but the Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology in Rome put it at 5.6, he said.

It lasted about 20-30 seconds, and was followed by two large aftershocks and several smaller ones. One of the largest aftershocks was registered five hours after the initial tremor struck.

Cerrone said some buildings in Palermo's historic center suffered some damage, with parts of the masonry falling off.

Three buildings with some of the heaviest damage were evacuated as a precaution, ANSA said.

Farther east, a 5.4-magnitude quake rattled the western Aegean Sea on Friday, but no injuries or damage were reported, the Athens Geodynamic Institute said.

The quake, which occurred at 1:19 a.m., had a preliminary magnitude of 5.4 and was felt in Athens, Greece. It had an epicenter under the seabed 70 miles northeast of the Greek capital, between the islands of Skyros and Evia, the institute said.