Turkey is assessing the damage and possible casualties and injuries following the magnitude 6 earthquake that struck the southeastern province of Malatya this morning, which could be felt throughout the region and even in several neighbouring countries such as Syria, Georgia and Armenia.
Turkish media reported that the earthquake struck at 10:46 local time with its epicentre in the district of Kale, according to the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Agency, which estimated the magnitude of the tremor at 5.9, although the prestigious United States Geological Survey (USGS) raised the intensity of the quake to 6.0 on the Richter scale.
In addition to Malatya, the earthquake could also be felt strongly in other provinces of the region such as Adıyaman, Şanlıurfa or Kahramanmaraş, where the devastating effects of the earthquakes that devastated southeastern Turkey in February 2023 causing some 53,000 deaths are still remembered, as well as in Diyarbakır, Elazığ, Batman and Tunceli, where the possible damage is still being assessed.
According to the latest information released by Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, at least three buildings reportedly partially collapsed following the earthquake in the provinces of Malatya, Şanlıurfa and Elazığ, although no deaths were reported. In these three provinces, classes have been suspended in schools and institutes for at least today. In Elazığ, four people were rescued alive in one of the buildings damaged by the earthquake.
Several injured due to panic
Many residents of the affected provinces jumped from balconies and windows when they felt the quake in panic, resulting in many of the injured, whose number was still being assessed at the time of writing this article and ranged – according to sources – from four to around 30.
Most of the region’s population left their homes and workplaces and gathered in open areas after the quake, awaiting news of further tremors, although experts have already announced that aftershocks of up to 5 degrees are expected.
Seismologists have long been monitoring the tectonic fault running through Malatya, which has the potential to generate earthquakes of more than 7.0 and which, after lying dormant for some 3,000 years, is thought to have become active again after the devastating earthquakes that struck southeast Turkey on 6 February 2023.
VOTE
EDITORIAL TEAM
🧿 About us
.
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.
…
📣 Your ADVERTISING on Hispanatolia
.
🤗 HELP US WITH A DONATION:
💗 Paypal
