Greece offered aid and sympathy to Turkey yesterday, with the Greek Prime Minister, Mr Costas Simitis, sending a telegram to his Turkish counterpart, Mr Bulent Ecevit, expressing condolences and offering assistance to the quake victims.
"He expressed the willingness of the Greek government to provide all possible assistance to face this tragic event," the government spokesman, Mr Dimitris Reppas, said.
The Greek Foreign Minister, Mr George Papandreou, also telephoned the Turkish Foreign Minister, Mr Ismail Cem, to offer the use of crews experienced at recovering survivors from ruined buildings.
A Greek military aircraft left for Turkey with medical assistance, and a second C-130 transport was on stand-by to fly a 15-member special rescue unit experienced at handling such disasters.
The Mayor of Athens, Mr Dimitris Avramopoulos, appealed to Athenians to donate food, clothing and medicine for the quake victims, and the Alternate Foreign Minister, Mr Yannos Kranidiotis, met the Turkish ambassador in Athens to offer support.
The earthquake was felt in northern Greece and in the Aegean islands, although no damage has been reported.
Experts at the Geophysics laboratory at Aristotelian University in Thessaloniki, in northern Greece, recorded an earthquake of 7.4 to 7.5 on the Richter scale.
The earthquake was felt across western Greece and Greek Macedonia, as far as Kozani in the north-west.