A strong earthquake registering 6.0 on the Richter scale struck the Greek island of Lefkada Tuesday, killing two people and damaging roads and buildings, local authorities said.

A woman in her sixties was killed by a falling rock caused by a landslide on her house in the village of Ponti Vassilikis, the island's deputy mayor Christos Kaliforis told Vima radio.

Another woman was killed in the village of Athani, he said.

Greek news agency Ana said four people had been taken to hospital with light injuries.

Roads in the south-east of the Ionian island, closest to the quake's epicentre in the sea, and several stone houses had been damaged, Kaliforis said. An old church collapsed.

An aftershock registering at 5.2 on the Richter scale hit the island just before 11:00 am (0900 GMT), two hours after the original earthquake struck.

The quake originated in the Ionian sea, some 280 kilometres (175 miles) west of the Greek capital, according to the Athens Observatory's geodynamic institute.

Media said the shocks were felt all along Greece's west coast and also in the capital.

Greece accounts for more than half of all earthquakes registered in Europe, and quakes regularly hit the area around Lefkada.