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ATHENS (Reuters) - A strong earthquake (news - web sites) measuring 5.8 on the open-ended Richter scale struck western Greece on Monday damaging some houses, but with no reports of injuries so far, authorities said.

The tremor occurred at around 0500 GMT with an epicenter 230 km (145 miles) west of Athens in the sea between the island of Zakynthos and the port of Kyllini in western Peloponnese, the Athens Geodynamic Institute said.

Police said there were no injuries reported so far while local authorities said more than 50 homes in the area were either damaged or evacuated.

Seismologists said the area was an earthquake zone where tremors occur regularly. Monday's quake was the strongest in the area since October 1988, when a tremor measuring about 6 on the Richter scale shook the region, the institute said.

-- Anonymous, December 02, 2002