Earthquake in the Aegean: at least 14 dead and more than 400 injured in Turkey and Greece – world –

In a severe earthquake in the Aegean Sea, several buildings collapsed and people were buried in western Turkey. According to the Turkish television station TRT, according to previous information, at least twelve people died and more than 400 were injured. At least 70 people have been rescued from the rubble and rubble. Izmir Mayor Tunc Soyer had previously spoken of the destruction of 20 buildings.

According to the Turkish National Disaster Agency, the main earthquake had a magnitude of 6.6. The USGS, which is responsible for the earthquakes, and the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics in Austria even gave the earthquake a strength of 7.0.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addressed the population in a tweet. Help the people affected by the earthquake by all means.

The tremors could be felt as far as Istanbul, the Greek capital Athens and Bulgaria.

The earthquake with a force of at least 6.6 occurred at noon on Friday and was located about 16 kilometers northwest of the island of Samos and only a few kilometers off the west coast of Turkey. The TRT station showed images of collapsed apartment buildings and clouds of dust over the city of Izmir. Panic was reported on the streets during the earthquake and telephone connections were cut. The tremors could be felt up to Athens. According to the Greek media, the earthquake is said to have lasted about 30 seconds and therefore for a long time.

Earthquake institutes also reported the first aftershocks further west of the main earthquake, several of them above magnitude 4.0.

Following the earthquake north of the island of Samos and the western coast of Turkey, a tsunami struck in the small town of Vathy on Samos.

In Greece, the island of Samos was hit particularly hard, where media reports say that at least eight injured people were treated in hospital.

After the earthquake, the water overflowed in the form of a tsunami both in Samos and on the west coast of Turkey.

The German Geosciences Research Center (GFZ) in Potsdam reported on Friday afternoon on the “severe earthquake with tsunami”. According to GFZ calculations, the waves reached heights of more than 1.5 meters; they could possibly reach up to three meters high on the coast.

In Samos, people fled their homes and there were reports of damage to buildings and roads. Governor Yannis Stamoulis asked citizens to stay away from the buildings because there are still aftershocks.

Greek television stations showed images of the flooded coastal walk, where the water washed away the cars. Power went out. Flooded streets can also be seen in images from Seferihisar, Turkey.

In an interview with TRT, experts warned of a possible additional tsunami.

Two 17-year-olds were found dead on the Greek island of Samos after the severe earthquake on Friday afternoon. According to Greek media reports, the girl and boy from the small town of Vathy were walking home after school when the walls of a narrow alley collapsed due to the earthquake.

The European Union and NATO offered support to Turkey and Greece. “My thoughts go out to all those affected,” EU Council President Charles Michel wrote on Twitter on Friday. “The EU is ready to provide support.” The President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, also offered this.

Austria could actively participate in European aid. The Foreign Disaster Fund (AKF), which was doubled by the turquoise-green government in September, is equipped for precisely such cases, Michel Reimon, a spokesman for the Greens for humanitarian aid, said in a broadcast on Friday.