November 23, 2022, 0:48 AM
November 23, 2022, 0:48 AM
A 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck northwestern Turkey in the early hours of Wednesday e injured at least 22 peopleaccording to local health authorities.
The tremor was recorded at a depth of 10 km and its epicenter was located about 170 km east of Istanbulthe largest city in the country, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
The Turkish authorities indicated that its epicenter was in the Golyaka district, in the province of Duzce, although the shock was felt in nearby cities such as Istanbul.
“We woke up to a big noise and shaking,” Duzce resident Fatma Colak told AFP. “We left the house in a panic and now we are waiting outside,” she added.
Health Minister Fahrettin Koca tweeted that 22 people were injured, one seriously after jumping from a building in a panic.
Initial images showed people covered in blankets outdoors in the early morning. Some laid blankets on the ground and lit fires to warm the children.
The authorities indicated that schools would be closed on Wednesday in the provinces of Duzce and Sakarya.
Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said in televised remarks that despite some vandalized stables, there were no reports of serious damage or collapsed buildings.
The national disaster agency, AFAD, explained that there were power outages controlled in the Duzce region and asked residents not to panic.
Turkey is located in one of the most seismically active areas in the world.
In November 2020, a magnitude 7 earthquake in the Aegean Sea killed 114 people. and wounded more than a thousand. That same year, another earthquake killed more than 40 people.
The worst quake in decades occurred in 1999, when two tremors killed an estimated 18,000 people in the northwest.
