By Our Editor Foreign Affairs
Izmir, Turkey : A dozen people lost lives, hundreds other received multiple injuries and some believed to be under debris in Turkey and Greece after a powerful earthquake hit the Aegean Sea on Friday afternoon, sending buildings crashing down and triggering what authorities have called a “mini tsunami.”
According to Turk officials , fourteen people were killed in coastal areas in Turkey’s west, while two teenagers died on the Greek island of Samos after a wall collapsed on them. Death toll my rise to an alarming extent as a number of people including kids and women are believed under debris.
In Turkey, at least 20 buildings in the city of Izmir alone were destroyed, Mayor Tunc Soyer told news chnnels . Images showed vehicles crushed under the buildings and people digging through the rubble in search of survivors.
More than 419 people have been injured in Turkey, the country’s disaster agency said, dozens of them saved by rescue teams using diggers and helicopters to search for survivors. Search and rescue operations continue in 17 buildings, the agency added.
Fourteen people have been killed in Turkey and Greece after a powerful earthquake hit the Aegean Sea on Friday afternoon, sending buildings crashing down and triggering what authorities have called a “mini tsunami.”
Officials said twelve people were killed in coastal areas in Turkey’s west, while two teenagers died on the Greek island of Samos after a wall collapsed on them.
In Turkey, at least 20 buildings in the city of Izmir alone were destroyed, Mayor Tunc Soyer told CNN Turk. Images showed vehicles crushed under the buildings and people digging through the rubble in search of survivors.
More than 419 people have been injured in Turkey, the country’s disaster agency said, dozens of them saved by rescue teams using diggers and helicopters to search for survivors. Search and rescue operations continue in 17 buildings, the agency added.
CNN Turk quoted media reports and TV footage showed water flooding through the streets of Cesme and Seferihisarin in parts of Turkey’s wider Izmir province, as well as on the Greek island of Samos, in what officials described as a “mini tsunami.” No tsunami warnings were issued.
Idil Gungor, who works as a journalist and runs a guesthouse in the Turkish town of Siğacik in Izmir province, said that the area was damaged more by the force of the water than the quake itself.
Her guesthouse, in a 100-year-old building, had been inundated and fish were swimming inside it, she said. Shops in town have also been flooded and their goods damaged.
“Everybody is calm but shocked and we’re wondering what will happen, if there’s a second tsunami coming or not,” Gungor said.
Zeki Soysal, also a resident in Izmir province, told CNN Turk that he made it out of his office building just in time before it collapsed.
“There was an older woman in the building but we saved her, she got out. There is another building close to this building. They are continuing to try to get the people out,” he said.
he United States Geological Survey (USGS) measured the tremor’s magnitude at 7.0, while Turkish authorities said it was 6.6. The quake struck 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) northeast of the town of Néon Karlovásion on Samos, the USGS reported, at 1:51 pm Greek time (7:51a.m. ET).
But it hit at a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometers, the USGS reported, making its impact powerfully felt at ground level around the epicenter.
Authorities in both countries have reported dozens of aftershocks. Izmir Governor Yavuz Selim Köşger called on residents to stay off the roads and refrain from using mobile phones unnecessarily so that emergency vehicles could reach affected areas and response teams could communicate effectively.
In Greece, Samos Deputy Mayor Giorgos Dionisiou told Greek media that some old buildings had collapsed on the island.