ATHENS - A STRONG undersea earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale on Wednesday shook the Greek island of Crete and was also felt in northern Egypt, officials said.

The Athens Observatory said the 12.30 pm (5.30pm Singapore time) earthquake had its epicentre 450 kilometres south of Athens and 170 kilometres south of Crete.

Crete police said the quake shook the island though no damage was reported.

The tremor was also felt on the northern coast of Egypt, the director of the Egyptian geophysics research institute Salah Mohammed Mahmoud told Egypt's official agency Mena.

No damage or victims were reported in Egypt.

The US Geological Survey initially gave the quake a moment magnitude (Mw) of 6.7 and later revised it to 6.4 Mw.

Greece is the European nation most exposed to earthquakes, accounting for half of all tremors recorded on the continent. -- AFP