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The magnitude of the earthquake, which occurred ten kilometers deep, was evaluated by the United States Geophysical Institute (USGS) at 7 and 6.8 by the Turkish authorities.
In Bayrakli, Izmir province, rescue teams, with sniffer dogs, scrambled to try to reach victims and possible survivors amid a mass of twisted beams and large chunks of concrete, the remains of a collapsed seven-story building. , according to images from the Turkish public broadcaster TRT.
In Greece, the island of Samos, in the Dodecanese archipelago, was the most affected areaTwo young people lost their lives due to the collapse of a wall and nine people were injured, reported the public channel ERT.
“It was chaos, we have never experienced that… So far we have no victims. Some buildings have been damaged, a church in particular ”, located in the port of Karlovassi, declared Giorgos Dionysiou, the deputy mayor of Samos.
The earthquake caused a rise in sea level that flooded the streets of Seferihisar, a Turkish city located at the epicenter. The storm surge also swept the shores of the island of Samos.
Earthquake in Turkey
The densely populated Turkish coast was the hardest hit. About seventeen buildings collapsed. Bayrakli rescuers, assisted by residents and police, managed to contact a young woman trapped under the rubble by phone.
“Don’t worry, we’re here! I’m going to hang up so you can save battery. Decrease the brightness of your screen and remain calm ”, advised a relative under the supervision of a lifeguard.
A human chain was trying to clear the ruins. Sometimes the rescuers demanded silence to try to locate the survivors.
A young woman was pulled from the rubble of a collapsed building, according to CNN-Türk. Two other people emerged from the ruins of another seven-story building, according to TRT.
According to the governor of Izmir, about 70 people had been rescued from the rubble so far.
Turkish televisions showed images of dust clouds rising in the sky, as residents rushed into the streets in panic.
In an image captured by an inhabitant with his cell phone, a building was seen collapsing like a house of cards as passers-by shouted: “My God!”
The earthquake was also felt in Istanbul, the economic capital of the country mourned 20 years ago by a powerful earthquake. But no damage was found, said the governor of Istanbul province.
“All our institutions began to move to the place to initiate the necessary efforts,” declared President Erdogan, on Twitter.
Both Turkey and Greece are located in one of the most active seismic zones in the world. In Turkey, in recent years, in addition to the 1999 earthquake, in 2011, a 7.1 earthquake in the Van province left more than 600 dead, and last January one of 6.7 left about 40 dead in the province from Elazig (east).
In Greece, the last deadly earthquake occurred in July 2017 on the island of Kos, near Samos, in the Dodecanese archipelago, and caused two deaths.
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