ATHENS (AFP) — A strong earthquake measuring 6.5 on the open-ended Richter scale struck the Peloponnese region of Greece on Sunday, leaving one person dead and about 20 injured, authorities said.

The quake was felt throughout the peninsula and as far away as Athens, causing scenes of panic in villages and towns in the west and the north of the Peloponnese, when it struck around 3:25 pm (1325 GMT), NET public television reported.

The National Observatory of Athens located the quake 205 kilometres (130 miles) west of the capital near the town of Andravida. Observatory research chief Gerassimos Papadopoulos said the epicentre was about 10 kilometres (six miles) underground.

A man in his sixties was killed in the village of Kato Achaia when the roof of his house collapsed, firefighters said.

About 20 people were injured, among them four who according to national health service official Panagiotis Eftathiou jumped out of windows. They were rushed to hospitals and were being treated for fractures.

"The quake was terrible. We have not had such a big one even though we're used to them," said the mayor of the town of Pyrgos, George Paraskevopoulos. "It lasted for quite a while and everybody ran from their homes."

Pyrgos' Agios Nicolaos church suffered serious damage and several buildings in the town centre showed cracks after the quake, he added.

Firefighters said old houses in Pyrgos, Amaliada, surrounding villages and in the port area of Patras were also damaged.

Rescuers managed to save a little girl in the village of Fostena after she got stuck in her home and a family of three was also rescued from their house in the village of Bartholomiou.

Papadopoulos expected Sunday's quake to be followed by a series of strong aftershocks in the next couple of days.

Aftershocks were already registered Sunday afternoon, with the biggest reaching 4.7 on the Richter scale, he said, calling on people in the region to keep calm and urging authorities to quickly check the state of buildings.

Engineers were set to inspect possible damage in schools, the education ministry said.

Greece experiences more seismic activity than any other country in Europe, accounting for half of the continent's recorded quakes.

The US Geological Survey measured Sunday's earthquake at magnitude 6.1, placing its epicentre 33 kilometres southwest of Patras.