New earthquakes shook northwestern Turkey on Friday, just two days after a violent 6.2 earthquake left more than a hundred people injured in Istanbul, forcing more than 100,000 people to spend the night away from their homes.
Turkish media reported several successive earthquakes in the last few hours in the province of Kütahya, located in the north-west of the country, about 300 km south of Istanbul. The first earthquake struck at 7:23 a.m. (6:23 a.m. CET) with its epicentre in the district of Simav and a depth of only 8.8 kilometres, reaching an intensity of 4.5 on the Richter scale. Only six minutes later, there was an aftershock that reached an intensity of 3.9.
Subsequently, at around 10:20 this morning (09:20 CET), there was another earthquake with a magnitude of 4.6 on the Richter scale, again with its epicentre in Simav, west of the province. In this case, the new earthquake, which was stronger than the initial one, occurred at a depth of 12.2 kilometres and could be felt in several neighbouring provinces, according to the Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (AFAD), citing data from the Kandilli Seismological Observatory in Istanbul. However, some media outlets raised the intensity of this third earthquake to 4.8.
In statements broadcast on television, the governor of Kütahya, Musa Işın, provided the latest information on the situation following the earthquakes, noting that no significant damage or casualties had been reported, although the governor stressed that teams were continuing to carry out inspections on the ground and that the state of alert remains in place due to the possibility of further seismic activity.
Authorities declare alert and close schools after earthquakes
Işın, speaking to the public broadcaster TRT, also announced that schools had been ordered to close in at least two districts of the province near the epicentre of the earthquakes. Several security cameras captured the moments when the earthquakes struck.
The mayor of Simav, Tekel Aktulun, said that people had taken to the streets out of fear of earthquakes but that no serious damage had been reported, except for the appearance of small cracks in some buildings. In this regard, Aktulun recalled that many buildings were already affected by the earthquake in 2011 (which reached a magnitude of 5.9) and are in urgent need of renovation.
This new swarm of earthquakes comes just two days after a strong 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck Istanbul on Wednesday, leaving more than 150 injured and causing panic among the population, who have had to endure almost 300 aftershocks, some measuring up to 5.9. The earthquake, which was also felt in other provinces in Turkey’s Marmara region, even caused a partial collapse of the historic walls of Constantinople.
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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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