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Izmir, Turkey – 14 people died in Turkey and Greece on Friday after a strong earthquake in the Aegean Sea collapsed some buildings and triggered tsunamis in the Turkish coastal areas and nearby Greek islands.
Witnesses said residents rushed to the streets in panic in the coastal city of Izmir after the earthquake, which occurred around 11:50 GMT, with a magnitude of about seven degrees. Some neighborhoods saw a rise in seawater, causing debris to flood into the land, leaving fish stranded in the streets after their removal.
Turkey’s Presidency of Emergency and Disaster Management said 12 people died, one of whom drowned. Urban Planning Minister Murad Corum said 522 were injured. On the Greek island of Samos, a boy and a girl were found dead in an area where a wall collapsed.
Turkish disaster management added that search and rescue operations continue at 17 sites where buildings collapsed or were damaged. Corum said authorities have set up tents with a total capacity of about 2,000 people, near areas that have suffered severe damage.
Efthimios Likas, director of the Earthquake Protection and Planning Organization, told the Greek channel Sky Channel that authorities had urged residents of the island of Samos, which is home to some 45,000 people, to move away from coastal areas.
“The earthquake was very strong,” he added. And it issued warnings of high waves on the island. A Greek official said eight people were slightly injured.
A Greek police spokesman said that some buildings were damaged on the island.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday to offer his condolences for the victims. “Whatever our differences, these are times when our people need to be united,” he wrote on Twitter.
Erdogan expressed his deep appreciation to the Greek prime minister for his solidarity with Turkey after the Aegean earthquake.
He responded to Mitsotakis’ tweet in another in English, in which he said: “Prime Minister, I thank you on my behalf and on behalf of my people.
He also said: “The solidarity of two neighboring countries in difficult times is more precious than many things in life.”
There is deep tension between the two countries over sovereignty claims over areas in the eastern Mediterranean that are believed to be rich in natural resources.
The Presidency of Disaster Management said the quake was 6.6, while the United States Geological Survey said it was 7 degrees. And the media reported that the earthquake was felt by residents along the coast of Turkey overlooking the Aegean Sea and in the Marmara region in the northwest of the country.
