A powerful magnitude 7 earthquake rocked western Turkey on Friday October 30, 2020 -

AP / SIPA

Turkey was shaken on Friday by an earthquake.

The power of the earthquake, which occurred at a depth of ten kilometers, was evaluated at a magnitude of 7 on the Richter scale by the American Institute of Geophysics (USGS) and 6.6 by the Turkish authorities. .

The tremor, which was felt as far away as Istanbul and Athens, occurred in the Aegean Sea, southwest of Izmir, Turkey's third largest city, and near the Greek island of Samos.

The mayor of Izmir, Tunç Soyer, told the CNN-Türk news channel that he had received reports of nearly 20 collapsed buildings.

"At this stage, we have received information according to which six buildings have collapsed in Bornova and Bayrakli", in the province of Izmir, however, indicated the Turkish Minister of the Interior Süleyman Soylu on Twitter.

“Some of our fellow citizens are stuck in the rubble,” Environment Minister Murat Kurum added.

A human chain to try to clear the ruins

In Bornova, rescuers, aided by residents and police, were trying to force their way through the rubble of a seven-story apartment building using chainsaws, according to images on the public channel TRT.

A human chain was trying to clear the ruins by passing pieces of beams or bricks, according to these images.

Rescuers sometimes called for silence in an attempt to locate survivors.

A young woman was extracted from the rubble of a collapsed building, according to CNN-Türk.

Two other people were pulled from the ruins of another seven-story building, according to TRT.

Mini-tsunami in Samos

Sign of its power, the earthquake caused a mini-tsunami in Samos in Greece, where material damage was observed, according to the Greek public television Ert.

The earthquake also caused a rise in sea level whose waters flooded the streets of Seferihisar, a Turkish city near the epicenter, according to local media.

Turkish televisions showed images of clouds of dust rising in the sky as locals rushed through the streets in panic.

In an image taken by an inhabitant with his phone, we see a building collapsing like a house of cards, while passers-by shout “My God!

".

One of the most active earthquake zones in the world

The shock was also felt in Istanbul, the economic capital of the country mourned 20 years ago by a powerful earthquake.

But the governor of Istanbul province, Ali Yerlikaya, said no damage had been noted immediately.

"All our institutions have started to go to the scene to start the necessary efforts," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Twitter.

Turkey is located in one of the most active earthquake zones in the world.

In 1999, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck the northwest of the country, killing more than 17,000, including a thousand in Istanbul.

Last January, an earthquake of 6.7 killed around 40 people in the province of Elazig (east).

In 2011, an earthquake of 7.1 on the Richter scale was in the province of Van (east), killing more than 600.

Strasbourg

Strasbourg: The earth trembled four times during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday near the Alsatian capital

Science

The mystery of the "sunken basilica" soon solved thanks to the study of the sediments

  • Environment

  • Weather forecast

  • Building

  • Turkey

  • World

  • Earthquake

  • Planet