A strong earthquake registering 6.5 on the Richter scale shook many regions of Greece early Sunday morning. However, there were no reports of injury or major damage, seismologists at the Athens Geodynamic Institute said.

The earthquake happened at 7:14 a.m. (0514 GMT) had the epicenter appreciatively 60 kilometers north-east of southern town of Kalamata near Leonido, southwest of Athens in the southern Peloponnese region. The quake provoked panic between the residents of the affected areas and lots of people left their home because they felt safer on the streets.

'The tremor occurred at a depth of more than 70 km and that is why there have been no casualties,' observatory spokesperson Yannis Drakatos said, according to local media sources.

The authorities reported there were no people injured after the earthquake. The same region was hit by a 5.9-magnitude quake in 1999 resulting in 143 people killed and leaving thousands more homeless. Greece is often struck by earthquakes, most of them leaving no serious damages.

"It was a very strong earthquake but we've communicated with the surrounding villages and until this moment there is no problem," deputy mayor of Leonido, Ilias Manos told Greek television.

According to seismologists at the Athens Geodynamic Institute, the earthquake occurred about 80 km (50 miles) deep, which explain why it had not led to serious damage.

The Italian civil protection in Rome said the earthquake was felt throughout southern Italy.