A powerful earthquake measuring 7.0 in magnitude hit Turkey on Friday, 30 October, leaving in its wake at least 26 people dead and over 800 injured, Associated Press reported. The earthquake also hit parts of Greece.
Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency, or AFAD, reportedly said that 24 were killed in Izmir, Turkey’s third-largest city, including an elderly woman who drowned.
Turkey’s Health Minister Fahrettin Koca took to Twitter to say that 38 ambulances, two ambulance helicopters and 35 medical rescue teams were working in Izmir. A government minister reportedly said that people were trapped in the rubble.
The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tweeted: "Get well soon İzmir."
Director of the Istanbul-based Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute Haluk Ozener told AP that a small tsunami hit the Seferihisar district south of Izmir, the city which has been worst affected by the quake.
The small tsunami also affected Samos where visuals showed seawater flooding the streets in the harbour town of Vathi. Several buildings went down in Turkey’s western Izmir province, according to Associated Press.
Visuals of the fallen buildings and the ensuing rubble flooded Twitter soon after.
Multiple aftershocks also struck the region, while AFP reported that according to Greek public television, the quake also caused a mini-tsunami on the eastern Aegean Sea island of Samos. A Reuters report said that high tidal wave warnings have been put in place in Samos.
More than 3,000 rescue personnel were reportedly sent to Izmir and the authorities have warned the residents against returning to the damaged buildings.
(With inputs from Reuters, AFP, CNN and Associated Press.)
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