Eastern Turkey was hit by an earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale on Friday, authorities said. A provisional assessment reports four deaths.
In the early evening, around 8:55 p.m., the earth trembled in the district of Sivrice, in the province of Elazig, according to the government agency for disaster situations. The American institute USGS measured the shock at 6.7. Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told the official Anadolu news agency: "We hope there will be no other victims. So far, four people have been killed, ”including two in Elazig and two in the neighboring province of Malatya. According to him, buildings have collapsed in the region.
An M6.8 big quake just happened in Turkey,
As Dyson Lin predicted.
The location error is big, though.
2020-01-24 17:55 UTC + 8 SIVRICE-ELAZIG M6.8 pic.twitter.com/yZkJw0wOiC
Felt in several regions
“It was scary, the furniture fell on us. We rushed outside, ”Melahat Can, 47, an Elazig resident, told AFP. "We are going to spend the next few days on a farm outside the city." Zekeriya Gunes, 68, said he saw a building collapse two hundred meters from his home, without being able to say whether it was inhabited.
"Everyone took to the streets, it was very powerful, very scary," he said. The earthquake was felt in several regions of eastern Turkey, including Tunceli, said the NTV television channel, specifying that teams of rescuers had been mobilized. Turkey, located on several fault lines, is frequently affected by earthquakes.
In 1999, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake hit the east of the country, killing more than 17,000 people, including a thousand in Istanbul. In September, a 5.7 magnitude earthquake hit the country's economic capital. Experts estimate that a major earthquake can affect this city of more than 15 million inhabitants at any time, where the often anarchic habitat is rarely up to earthquake-resistant standards.
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