A powerful earthquake has occurred in the Aegean Sea near the Turkish coast and the Greek island of Samos. Buildings have collapsed and there is widespread panic everywhere. According to the most recent figures, there have been 12 deaths and more than 400 injuries. The dead include two teenagers and a disabled woman. There are no reports of Belgian victims.
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According to the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Presidencyt, it was an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.6 on the Richter Scale. The US Geological Survey speaks of 7.0.
The epicenter is said to be about 17 kilometers from the coast of the Turkish province of Izmir at a depth of 16 kilometers. The quake could be felt along the coastline of Izmir and according to the Greek seismological observatory, the quake could also be felt as far as the Greek island of Samos, the island of Crete and in Athens.
There was a mini tsunami on the Greek island of Samos. Residents of the island, with a population of about 45,000 people, were therefore requested to stay away from the coast.
“It was a very big earthquake. It’s hard to have an even bigger one, ”Eftyhmios Lekkas, head of Greece’s anti-seismic planning organization, told Skai TV.
The acting mayor of Samos told Greek public broadcaster ERT that “the walls of some houses have crumbled and several buildings have been damaged”.
In Izmir, Turkey, the damage is also great after the earthquake: many buildings have collapsed and water ran through the streets in a number of places. Nearly 900 Belgians live in the popular seaside resort, but according to Foreign Affairs, they are all safe at the moment. The government department emphasizes that it maintains close contact with the local embassies.
Two seventeen-year-olds died
There are now at least 12 dead and more than 400 injured. One of the victims was a woman in a wheelchair who drowned while flying into the sea in Seferihisar district, TRT reported. Two young people died on Samos.
According to Greek media reports, a girl and a boy in the town of Vathy were going home after school when the walls of a house collapsed in an alley. They got under the rubble and died.
The quake happened at 1.00 pm Belgian time at a depth of 16.5 kilometers in the Seferihisar district of Izmir, according to AFAD. It was followed by 67 aftershocks. The quake was felt in nearby cities as well as Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, some 540 kilometers to the north, TRT said.
Erdogan
Greece is ready to assist Turkey in its rescue efforts after the deadly magnitude 6.6 earthquake in western Turkey. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said this to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a phone call.
Both leaders exchanged condolences in a telephone conversation after the earthquake. In addition to some Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, this also hit the Turkish west coast. At least six lost their lives in the city of Izmir, Turkey, along the Aegean coast. Two teenagers were killed on Samos. About 200 were injured on the Turkish side and about ten on the Greek side.
Izmir is on an active fault line. There was a deadly earthquake near Istanbul in 1999, when more than 17,000 people fell in the greater area of the city.
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