A strong earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale was recorded late on Sunday 10 August in the province of Balıkesir in northwestern Turkey, and could also be felt strongly in other nearby provinces including Istanbul, where many residents in the southern districts of the city left their homes in fear as they felt the quake.
As reported by Turkish public television TRT, Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Agency said the powerful tremor struck at 19:53 local time (18:53 CET) with its epicentre in the district of Sındırgı, south of Balıkesir province and about 300 kilometres southwest of Istanbul. The earthquake struck at a depth of approximately 11 kilometres and reached a magnitude of 6.1, according to AFAD, with numerous aftershocks subsequently recorded. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) also confirmed the strength of the quake at 6.1 on the Richter scale.
4 injured after a building collapsed due to the earthquake
In addition to Balıkesir province itself, the earthquake could be felt in up to a dozen other provinces, including Izmir, Kütahya, Yalova, Istanbul, Manisa, Uşak, Aydın, Eskişehir, Sakarya and Tekirdağ. While it was initially reported that there was no serious damage, as inspection teams and emergency services arrived in the affected areas it was reported that a building in the Sındırgı district – the epicentre of the quake – had collapsed trapping 4 people inside, who late on Sunday could be rescued alive, but injured.
Turkish Health Minister Kemal Memişoğlu later announced that the four citizens rescued from one of the collapsed buildings in Balıkesir province had been hospitalised but that their lives were not in danger. “Our teams are continuing their work on the ground, and we are following the situation continuously in coordination with all relevant institutions,” Memişoğlu assured.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya also reported that a total of 16 collapsed buildings had been detected so far in rural areas of the district. Later, quoted by newspapers such as Hürriyet, Yerlikaya reported that a total of 29 people were injured in the quake, none of them seriously, but that one of the injured citizens rescued eventually died.
“All our units are on alert, and we are evaluating each of the reports (on possible damage) that we receive,” Turkey’s Minister of Environment, Urban Planning and Climate Change Murat Kurum said on social media, noting that teams were still continuing at night their inspection work on the ground in the quake-affected areas.
84 aftershocks after the earthquake in just 4 hours
According to Turkish media reports, at least 84 aftershocks were recorded after the main quake of magnitude 6.1, the first of them at 19:57 – only 4 minutes after the main tremor – reaching a magnitude of 3.7. In total, at least 7 of the aftershocks detected in the following 4 hours reached an intensity of 4 or higher on the Richter scale, with tremors of 4.6 (at 20:01 hours), 4.1 (20:04), 4 (20:06), 4.2 (20:32), 4.1 (21:27), 4.2 (21:31) and 4.1 (22:12). All of them occurred in Sındırgı district, the epicentre of the earthquake.
Despite being more than 300 kilometres away from Balıkesir, the 6.1 quake could also be felt strongly in Istanbul, where the population still remembers the effects of the 6.2 earthquake last April, which left more than a hundred people injured. Local media reported that residents in districts such as Sultangazi or Bahçelievler left their homes amid scenes of panic, while in districts such as Bağcılar or Küçükçekmece people gathered in open spaces such as parks or meeting areas to spend the night, fearing further earthquakes.
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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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