In another terrifying catastrophe hitting the world, a powerful earthquake struck in the Aegean Sea, shaking up Greece and Turkey on Friday. There was heavy damage to lives and materials with at least four reported dead till now and over 120 injured.
With many still trapped under the debris of houses caused due to the quake, officials fear the death count may rise. FahrettinKoca, the Health Minister of Turkey told the media that there are 120 people who have got injured amidst the disaster in Izmir’s coastal region.
The earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 forced thousands of people to hurriedly get on the streets to save themselves from the crumbling buildings. Witnesses said that people frantically got out of all routes they could possibly take to escape from the concrete blocks that were falling off like leaves from a tree. The damage also triggered fires as smoke could be seen rising up in many areas.
Social media has got flooded with videos and images of the disastrous situation of Izmir where water is gushing on the roads, taking along everything that comes in its way, as the city has got it worse for being on the coastal side.
CNN reported Izmir’s Mayor TuncSoyer giving the count of collapsed buildings as 20. This is the condition of the third biggest city of Turkey giving a home to approximately 4.5 million people. However, the interior minister of Izmir said through a tweet that sox buildings have been shattered in Izmir.
One of the witnesses of the calamity said that although he was known to earthquakes and had experienced it earlier as well, the character of this one was much worse and terrifying than any he has felt. IlkeCide said, “I am very used to earthquakes … so I didn’t take it very seriously at first but this time it was really scary.” The doctoral student was present in the Guzelbahnce region of Izmir when the earthquake struck and he immediately went inland after seeing the water rise, he said. Ilke added that the quake kept creating havoc and was felt for at least 25 seconds.
The earthquake also provoked the rise of a small yet significant tsunami in Seferihisar district, said the chief of Turkey’s Chamber of Geological Engineers, Huseyin Alan, also warning people to keep away from the vicinity of any building as it may break down anytime.
The videos getting circulated on social media show fences from houses, chairs, refrigerators, utensils and what not flooding the streets with the water pushing through from all sides. Reports also show vehicles piling on top of each other, getting pulled by the water’s pressure.
Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) reported the magnitude of the earthquake as 6.6, while the US Geological Survey said it was 7.0. It struck at around 11:50 GMT and was felt along Turkey’s Aegean coast and the northwestern Marmara region.
According to reports from the US Geological Survey, the depth was 10km and the epicentre was 33.5 km from Turkey’s coast. Parts Istanbul too felt the earthquake, however, there were no signs of damage to lives and property, said the governor of Istanbul, Ali Yerlikaya.
Turkey tops the list of countries that experienced the most number of earthquakes in the world. The earthquake of August 1999 claimed the lives of 17,000 people as its magnitude of 7.6 shook Izmit, city southeast to Istanbul. Another quake of 2011 in Van, killed over 500 people.
In a bid to help each other in rescuing and reviving the victims and damages, the foreign ministers of Turkey and Greece took a pledge on Friday despite their differences regarding the Mediterranean energy rights. “Greek Foreign Minister [Nikos] Dendias called our minister MevlutCavusoglu to wish him the best. Both ministers stressed they were ready to help each other in case of need,” the Turkish foreign ministry said.
The strong quake was also sensed in Athens and the eastern Greek Islands.
Al Jazeera reported a school counseling coordinator of Athens, Anna Makris saying, “We have had many earthquakes in the past, however, I have never felt one that has lasted this long.“There is a real sense of panic and now we are worried about aftershocks,” Makris added.
The news houses of Greece reported people in Samos and various islands running away from their houses in fear of it breaking down. Some regions also reported rockfalls.
The director of the hospital in Samos said four people were brought in for treating light injuries that were caused due to the quake.
Greece’s Skai TV reported EftyhmiosLekkas, head of Greece’s organisation for anti-seismic planning, saying that the people of the Samos Island, which has 45,000 people living on it, were requested to not go near the coastal regions as it could be deadly. “It was a very big earthquake, it’s difficult to have a bigger one,” said Lekkas.
Both Greece and Turkey told about the aftershocks experienced in their respective countries. There are also reports of a small tsunami hitting Samos where many buildings were destroyed along with the collapse of several walls of houses, resulting in flooding in the port.
A native of Ikaria, the Greek island beside Samos told Al Jazeera that she ran out of her house as she saw that “the earth started moving”. “Some people screamed and started crying while others were trying to gather everyone to a safe location in fear that buildings would collapse. There are quite a few damaged buildings and there were landslides on different parts of the island,” she said.
