ATHENS (REUTERS) - A strong earthquake rocked central Greece on Thursday (March 4), although there were no immediate reports of casualties, a day after another powerful tremor hit the same area.

The European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) gave a revised magnitude of 5.7 for Thursday's quake, down from a previous 6. It located the epicentre of the quake 17km west of the town of Tyrnavos in central Greece.

Two lighter tremors followed, 244km off Athens, the Athens Geodynamic Institute said.

A powerful quake shook the same area in central Greece on Wednesday, sending people rushing out of their homes and damaging houses and cars in nearby villages.

The fire brigade service said there were reports of damage on Thursday at old houses and stones falling from a large outcrop of rocks in Meteora that hosts a huge complex of Eastern Orthodox monasteries. No injuries were reported.

Greek authorities have set up tents and have rented hotels in the cities of Trikala and Larissa for people who opted to stay outside their homes for safety.

Seismologists have said they expected a sequence of post-quake activity in the coming days. It was not immediately clear whether the quake on Thursday was part of that activity or a separate seismological event.