Eathquake in Greece, Turkey kills two

6.7-magnitude temblor injures 500 in seaside area popular with tourists

KOS, Greece — A powerful earthquake shook beach resorts Friday in Greece and Turkey, killing two tourists crushed when a building collapsed on a bar in the Greek island of Kos and injuring nearly 500 others across the Aegean Sea region.

Only a few miles apart, Kos and the Turkish resort of Bodrum were hit hours before dawn by the shallow undersea quake that caused a two-foot sea swell and havoc among residents and thousands of vacationers at bars and restaurants.

The U.S. Geological survey measured the quake as being of magnitude 6.7.

“It was shocking, terrifying,” Kos resident Vassilis Megas told The Associated Press. “The whole house shook back and forth. People ran out into streets. We did too, and stayed out all night.”

Two men — from Turkey and Sweden — were killed when a collapsing wall smashed into White Corner Club, a popular a bar in the Old Town of Kos. Several others were seriously injured and airlifted to larger hospitals in Greece — one person had to have a leg amputated and another had life-threatening head injuries, doctors said.

Many of the other injuries occurred when tourists and residents scrambled out of buildings and even leapt from balconies. Hundreds of revelers were in the White Corner Club at the time.

“I saw the bar just floating around and drinks flying all over the place,” said Linda Lundgren, who works at a nearby establishment.

PETROS GIANNAKOURIS/ASSOCIATED PRESS A woman walks in front of the damaged facade of Agios Nikolaos Church following an earthquake Friday on the island of Kos in Greece. Two died and 500 were injured in the quake.