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At least four people were killed and more than 120 injured by a powerful earthquake that caused several buildings to collapse in western Turkey on Friday, according to a first balance released by the Health Minister.
“Four of our fellow citizens lost their lives in the earthquake (…). A total of 120 fellow citizens were injured,” Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter.
(In photos: damage after strong earthquake in Turkey and Greece)
The 6.8-magnitude quake, with its epicenter in the Aegean Sea, occurred at 11:51 GMT and caused at least a dozen buildings to collapse in various neighborhoods of Izmir, Turkey’s third largest city.
The rescue efforts, coordinated by AFAD, are underway and so far 4 bodies have been recovered and 120 injured have been treated, according to this public body, but the work continues.
Local media talk about significant material damage both in Greece and in
Turkey, which include the collapse of several buildings.
In Greece, the earthquake reached a magnitude of 6.6 on the Richter scale and occurred at 1:51 p.m. local time (11:51 GMT), according to the Geodynamic Institute of the National Observatory of Athens.
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It was also felt in Turkey with a magnitude of 6.8, according to the official Anadolu agency, which assured that it affected the Aegean coast, causing serious material damage, although at the moment no victims have been reported.
In the case of Greece, several testimonies from islanders on Helena public television, ERT, mention significant material damage in the area.
The epicenter of the telluric movement is in the Aegean Sea, about 17 kilometers from the Seferihisar district, in the Turkish city of Izmir.
The shaking has been noted in much of the western provinces of Turkey and the nearby Greek islands.
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There are buildings that have collapsed, but for now we cannot speak of injuries or deaths. We are investigating it
For its part, the CNNTürk station reported five strong aftershocks from the earthquake. “I was in a restaurant. We are terribly shocked. We ran away, a building has collapsed before my eyes,” The businessman Özgür Aktepe, who lives in Izmir, told Efe by phone.
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The earthquake lasted more than 30 seconds in the Greek area and has been felt throughout the country, including the capital, Athens, which is located more than 300 kilometers from Samos, according to the vice mayor of that town, Mijalis Mitsiós, told ERT.
Greek Civil Protection has sent a notice of possible tsunami through the emergency service 112 and the regional government of the North Aegean asked the neighbors to avoid circulate on the roads parallel to the sea.
The earthquake had a focal depth of 10 kilometers. According to the professor of Geodynamics at the University of Athens Efthymios Lekas, although it is still too early to know for sure, it is likely that it is the main earthquake and later there will only be aftershocks.
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Greek Prime Minister called Turkish President
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday afternoon to express his condolences for those killed in the earthquake that struck the two neighboring countries.
“I have just called the Turkish President to express my condolences for the tragic loss of life in the earthquake that hit our countries. Right now, our peoples need to stay together regardless of our differences, “Mitsotakis wrote on Twitter.
The two neighbors have disputes over the delimitation of the waters in the eastern Mediterranean, considered rich in hydrocarbons.
EFE AND AFP
