Strong Quake Hits Near Greek Capital of Athens, Sparks Fear

People speak on their phones as they stand outside the building they work in with the Greek, on July 19, 2019. Petros Giannakouris/AP Photo

ATHENS, Greece—A strong earthquake hit on July 19 near the Greek capital of Athens, causing residents to run into the streets in fear and firefighters to check for people trapped in elevators.

The Athens Institute of Geodynamics gave the earthquake a preliminary magnitude of 5.1 but the U.S. Geological Survey tagged it as a magnitude of 5.3. The Athens Institute says the quake struck at 2:13 p.m. local time (1113 GMT) some 14.2 miles north of Athens.