A magnitude 6.0 earthquake has hit western Turkey near the town of Duzce leaving around 22 injured. The town of Duzce is nearly 210 km east of Turkey’s largest city Istanbul, reported BBC. Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu informed there is no update about the loss of life.
The tremors from the jolt were felt in Istanbul and the capital Ankara, the report added citing media reports. The quake’s depth is estimated to vary from 2km to 10km. Also, power has reportedly been disrupted in the region with some residents trying to jump off from balconies.
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In fact, the tremors were followed by another 4.7 magnitude earthquake just 20 minutes later. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said at least 22 were injured and one was serious after jumping from a height due to an earthquake.
The footage of the earthquake started flooding social media.
Footage of the moment 5.9 magnitude #quake hit Düzce in northern Turkey. Tremors were also felt across Istanbul and Ankara. 18 aftershocks recorded. No casualties or major damages have been reported so far. In Nov 99 in a 7,2 quake that hit Düzce over 800 ppl were killed pic.twitter.com/PUkZxGjl9N
— Selin Girit (@selingirit) November 23, 2022
In 1999, Düzce was hit by a major 7.2 magnitude earthquake that left around 845 dead. This was followed by an even larger quake months earlier in the city of Izmit, 100km to the west, which killed more than 17,000 and left buildings in the region in a weakened state.
Around 80 percent of Duzce’s buildings have been rebuilt since the 1999 earthquakes, the city’s mayor told local media.
On Tuesday, around at least 252 people have been killed and more than 700 injured in the 5.6-magnitude earthquake, reported news agency AFP quoting an official. The earthquake occurred on Monday in Java, the main island of Indonesia. The number of children is the highest among those who died, reported Reuters. According to data from the US Geological Survey, a 5.6-magnitude earthquake at a depth of 10 km hit the city of Cianjur in West Java on Tuesday.
“The challenge is the affected area is spread out … On top of that, the roads in these villages are damaged,” said Henri Alfiandi, head of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), adding that more than 13,000 people had been evacuated.