Very strong earthquake in Greece and Turkey, there are victims

Earthquake with magnitude 7 on the Richter scale hit the Greek Dodecanese islandsannounced the European Seismological Center of the Mediterranean and the American Geophysical Institute.

The epicenter is on 14 kilometers north, northeast of the island of Samos at a depth of 10 kilometers as it was formed along the coast of the island minicunami. The epicenter is very close to the coasts of Asia Minor and Turkey, and in particular in the Izmir region.

People in Samos during the earthquake testified that it was very big and strong. Another German-speaking witness was also close to the epicenter, but in Turkey, he wrote: “I’ve never seen an earthquake like this before. “

The earthquake was felt from Athens to Istanbul and Sofia.

It has been reported so far at least 12 victims and 419 injured in Turkey and two victims on the island of Samos. Appeared on the internet Izmir video footage with many collapsed buildings, which suggests that there will be many more victims. The population of Izmir, Turkey’s third-largest city, is approximately 3.7 million.

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said there was six buildings collapsed in Izmir. Minor property damage was reported in nearby Izmir provinces.

“Some of our fellow citizens are under the rubble,” said Turkish Environment Minister Murat Kurum, adding that he knew of five collapsed buildings.

Izmir Mayor Bornova Mustafa Idug said that “there are many destroyed buildings in the area. We know A 4-story building collapsed. There are no problems in the center of the neighborhood. “

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3q-URD8ep0

Television images and videos circulating on social media show people desperately removing debris from some collapsed buildings to reach people trapped under the rubble.

TO 20 buildings were destroyed of the earthquake in the whole province, later specified the governor of the province of Izmir Yavuz Selim Kosger.

Images of the newcomers also appeared sea ​​water, sweeping the streets of Izmir.

Later it became clear that two teenage students died on the Greek island of Samos after the collapse of a wall of a building. The children were 17 and 15 years old and returning from school when the disaster struck.

Greek authorities say four more people were injured in the earthquake, which collapsed the walls of several old buildings.

After the first strong earthquake there were 67 secondary earthquakes, the strongest of which was with a magnitude of 5.2 on the Richter scale.

Turkey is in one of the most active earthquake zones in the world.

In 1999, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck northwestern Turkey, killing more than 17,000 people, including 1,000 in Istanbul.

Another 2011 earthquake in the southeastern province of Van killed more than 600 people.