Strong quake off Turkish and Greek coasts kills two, injures scores more
A powerful earthquake of magnitude 6.7 killed two people and injured scores more
when it struck near major Turkish and Greek tourist destinations in the Aegean
Sea early on Friday, Turkish and Greek officials said.
Local officials said at least two people died and 100 were injured on the
Greek holiday island of Kos, a popular destination particularly with British
holidaymakers.
Across a narrow Aegean Sea waterway in Turkey's Bodrum, around 70 people were
admitted to hospital, injured in their attempts to flee the overnight temblor
which struck at 1.31 a.m. local time (2230 GMT Thursday).
The tremor is the second in the broader region exceeding a magnitude of 6.0
this year, a level which can cause considerable damage.
A local hospital official said 100 people were injured, most slightly.
Greek authorities had dispatched helicopters to airlift the injured to the
larger island of Rhodes for treatment, Yiorgos Hadjimarkou, the head of the
South Aegean region said.
"Our primary concern right now is (safeguarding) human life," he told Greek
state broadcaster ERT.
Police sources said the roof of a bar in Kos collapsed.
The Greek coastguard said damage was reported to the port of Kos, which is
near a tourist strip of cafes and bars. A passenger ferry was unable to dock
because of extensive damage.
The European quake agency EMSC said a small tsunami could be caused by the
quake, but Turkish broadcasters cited officials saying large waves were more
likely.
Several stores were damaged in Bodrum's Gumbet district as a result of rising
sea levels, store owners told broadcaster NTV.
A local Kos website, Kostoday.com, showed images of rising sea levels and
parts of the tourist strip flooded, and large chunks of rubble elsewhere. One
showed the picture of a small fishing boat on a road.
The temblor, initially reported as a magnitude 6.9, was very shallow, only
6.2 miles (10 km) below the seabed, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
Turkish and Greek authorities put its magnitude lower at 6.3 and 6.4. Local
authorities said the quake was felt across the Aegean coast.
In Turkey, emergency authorities warned citizens about aftershocks, and added
there were no casualties or major damage in Turkey.
"Our people should know that aftershocks are continuing, so they should
refrain from entering damaged or vulnerable structures," Mehmet Halis Bilden,
head of Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency told broadcaster
CNN Turk.
Television footage from the Mugla province showed hundreds of people
abandoning buildings and waiting on the streets. It showed cars shaking and
products falling off shelves at stores across the region.
Mugla Governor Esengul Civelek told a news conference that initial reports
showed there was no major damage, though Mayor Osman Gurun said power outages
hit parts of the province.
Turkey is prone to earthquakes because it is located between the Arabian
plate and Eurasian plate.
More than 600 people died in October 2011 in Turkey's eastern province of Van
after a quake of 7.2 magnitude and powerful aftershocks.
In 1999, two massive earthquakes killed about 20,000 people in the densely
populated northwest of the country. A 5.9 magnitude quake in 1999 killed 143
people in Greece.
Source: Reuters
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