Georgia earthquake kills three

Older buildings are reported to have collapsed

The strongest earthquake to hit Georgia for 40 years has rocked the capital Tbilisi, leaving at least three people dead.

The quake, which measured six on the Richter scale, destroyed buildings in the old part of the city and send hundreds of people rushing into the streets in panic.

A witness told Reuters news agency that a foodstore assistant, her 18-year-old son and a young woman shopper died when the roof of a Soviet-style apartment block crashed down as they were leaving the ground-floor shop.

"This is a great misfortune," said Tbilisi mayor Vano Zodelava, as he inspected the damage in a suburb about 5km (three miles) from the city centre.

President Eduard Shevardnadze ordered a special centre to be set up to assess the damage and help victims' families.

Offers of help

Russian President Vladimir Putin had called Mr Shevardnadze and expressed his readiness to help, a Georgian official said.

The quake struck at about 2240 (1740GMT). There were no reports of aftershocks.

Tamaz Chelidze, of Georgia's Centre for Geophysics said the epicentre was close to the capital and that the quake was the strongest to hit the former Soviet republic since the late 1960s.

Minor earthquakes are common in Georgia.

In January, an earthquake measuring 3.5 near Tbilisi shook the capital but caused no damage or injuries.

A quake there two weeks ago reached magnitude five but also caused no casualties.