A 5.1 magnitude earthquake struck the province of Denizli in western Turkey this morning. The quake, which struck at 9:21 local time (7:21 CET), left no casualties but caused cracks and major damage to several buildings, according to the governor of the province, Yavuz Selim Köşger.
According to data published by the Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (AFAD), the earthquake had its epicentre in Buldan at a depth of approximately 7 kilometres. The tremor could also be felt in several provinces neighbouring Denizli.
A security camera in a local shop in the Sarayköy district captured the moment when the quake struck, as reported by the Turkish news agency Anatolia; the images show several people running outside during the tremor for fear of collapse.
“Our house and the cafeteria seem to have suffered some damage. Apart from that, there are no injuries to report. God help us. There were moments of panic and fear,” a local resident told the agency.
No fatalities or injuries from the quake
The governor of Denizli visited the centre of Buldan and the Yenicekent neighbourhood to assess the damage and express his condolences to the citizens, confirming that no casualties were reported, although several buildings were damaged. Köşger explained that all districts of the province had been contacted and that no total collapse of buildings had been reported.
“There are none in Yenicekent or in the centre of Buldan. In other districts, such as Güney and Sarayköy, there are buildings with partial cracks in the plaster. One of the most serious damage occurred in a market… There are collapses in structures added later and in the interior decoration. In a bakery we have detected damage to columns and load-bearing structures,” he said.
The governor added that all emergency teams, including AFAD, the UMKE emergency medical unit, the gendarmerie and the police, are carrying out on-site inspections to detect possible damage, but reiterated that the damage caused by the earthquake has not yet forced the evacuation of any buildings.
Experts warn there will be several aftershocks from the quake
Professor Hasan Sözbilir, director of the Earthquake Research and Application Centre at Dokuz Eylül University (DEÜ), explained that the so-called Pamukkale Fault is an active tectonic fault composed of five segments with a total length of 50 kilometres, which could generate aftershocks of up to magnitude 4 after the main shock.
“This fault is a major cause of earthquakes for Denizli. Since the length of the fault segments varies between 7 and 12 kilometres, it can generate earthquakes of up to magnitude 6 or 6.5. As the Pamukkale Fault, located in the area where the earthquake occurred, is made up of short, parallel fault segments, aftershocks of up to magnitude 4 can be recorded,” Sözbilir said.
Turkey is a highly seismically active country, where earthquakes are frequent. According to a recent study, the country records an earthquake of magnitude 4 or greater approximately every ten days and an earthquake greater than 6.5 every 2.5 years. In recent decades, the Great Marmara Earthquake in 1999, the Van Earthquake in 2010 and the Kahramanmaraş Earthquake in 2023 alone have caused more than 71,000 deaths.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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