A measured earthquake preliminary to magnitude 6.2 rocked Istanbul and other cities and provinces neighboring northwestern Turkey on Wednesday. There was no report in death or serious damage according to Turkish officials.
At least 236 people were injured and are treated for their injuries. Officials say that most injuries are the result of panic attacks and have tried to jump buildings.
Istanbul is considered a high -risk city for a major earthquake, experts warn that the city has 64% of the experience of an earthquake at least of magnitude 7 by 2030.
The Saturday's tremor had a shallow depth of 10 kilometers according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). The epicenter is the sea of Marmara, about 40 kilometers southwest of the most populous Turkish city.
It was felt in the neighboring provinces of Tekirdag, Yalova, Bursa and Balikesir and in the coastal city of Izmir, about 550 kilometers south of Istanbul.
The Minister of the Interior, Ali Yerlikaya, said that the earthquake had lasted approximately 13 seconds and was followed by more than 100 aftershocks, with the strongest measure in more than 5.9.
The earthquake began at 12:49 p.m. Local time on Wednesday during a public holiday when many children were out of school and celebrated in the streets of Istanbul. Panicked residents rushed to their houses and buildings in the streets.
“We had breakfast. At first, we felt a small earthquake. Later, when we went to the sink to cool off, I saw the tremors,” said a resident of Istanbul speaking to Euronews.
The authorities urged civilians to avoid entering buildings that could have been damaged and said that the sports halls and mosques would be open to residents of the house who did not want to spend the night in their homes. Officials also urged the public to stay outside, because the aftershocks were planned.
“We are fortunate to live in an apartment built on a foundation. It is safe there too. But we decided to wait a little longer. When we feel safe, we will also return home, to God,” said another Istanbulite.
The authorities had received 378 reports of “structural damage” in various buildings, said Murat Kurum, Minister of Urbanization and Climate Change, adding that 12 buildings were evacuated as a precaution.
Only one building – an abandoned and abundant structure in the city's historic fatih district – collapsed, officials said.
“Thank goodness, there does not seem to be any problems at the moment,” said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a marking national sovereignty and children's holidays.
“May God protect our country and our people from all kinds of calamities, disasters, accidents and troubles,” added Erdogan.
Turkey is crossed by two major flaw lines and earthquakes are frequent.
ADVERTISEMENTA magnitude of 7.8 earthquakes on February 6, 2023 and a second powerful tremor of hours later, killed more than 53,000 people in Turkey and destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of buildings in 11 Southeast and Southeast provinces. 6,000 other people were killed in the northern regions of neighboring Syria.
In order to prevent damage caused by any future earthquake, the national government and local administrations have launched urban reconstruction projects to strengthen risk buildings and launched campaigns to demolish those who risk collapsing.
