In Brief
PELOPONNESE QUAKE
Tremor measuring 5.9 Richter strikes but causes no damage The Peloponnese was rocked by three quakes on Saturday, the strongest of which measured 5.9 on the Richter scale, striking at about 2.30 p.m. The epicenter of the quake was in the sea, south of Methoni. No injuries or damage were reported. The other two quakes measured 5.4 and 5 Richter. Two people were injured and dozens of homes destroyed when a 6.5-magnitude quake struck the northern Peloponnese on June 8. Forest fires Dozens of small blazes start Firefighters battled some 80 wildfires, which were fanned by strong winds, around the country yesterday. None of the fires threatened lives or property but water-dropping helicopters and airplanes were called in to help with efforts. The fires spanned most of the country, including in the Peloponnese and on Crete. Firefighters in Attica were forced to douse blazes in Elefsina, west of Athens, and Tatoi, north of the capital. The extent of land burned was not immediately known. Burning books A group of about 15 people stormed into the Nea Thesi bookshop on Ippocratous Street in central Athens on Saturday afternoon and forced the employees out before setting it on fire, police said. The ensuing blaze caused considerable damage to the store. The motives behind the attack were not immediately clear. No injuries or arrests were reported. ATM scam Police in Kalamata said on Saturday that they arrested two men, aged 34 and 36, suspected of rigging an ATM so they could steal bank customers’ details and use them to withdraw cash. The two men, both foreign nationals who have not been further identified, are suspected of defrauding bank customers in Kalamata and Patras out of some 80,000 euros by placing devices on the ATMs which store the data from the magnetic strip of each cash card.
