One killed, dozens injured as 6.1-magnitude quake hits western Turkey
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Members of the Turkish gendarmerie search and rescue team working at the site of a building that collapsed following an quake in Sindirgi, in Turkey's western Balikesir province, on Aug 11.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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A 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck Sindirgi in western Turkey on Aug 10, killing at least one person and injuring dozens more, the Turkish disaster management agency Afad said.
The quake was felt across several cities in the west of the country, including Istanbul and the tourist hot spot of Izmir. No deaths were reported.
“An 81-year-old person died soon after having been rescued from under the rubble,” Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya told journalists at Sindirgi, the epicentre of the quake.
Another 29 people had been injured, but not seriously, he added.
The quake collapsed 16 buildings in Sindirgi and its surroundings, of which four were inhabited, including a three-storey building in the city centre, Mr Yerlikaya said.
People rushing to a collapsed building to search for survivors.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Several people were pulled alive from the rubble of the three-storey building, where six people were living. The person who died had also been buried under the rubble there before being freed.
Earlier, Mayor Serkan Sak told Turkish private channel NTV: “Four were rescued from the rubble.” Efforts to extract two others were ongoing, he added.
Afad said 319 first responders were deployed to the affected zone.
A handout intensity map made available by the United States Geological Survey shows the location of the quake.
PHOTO: EPA
The quake hit at 7.53pm (12.53am Singapore time on Aug 11), with about 20 aftershocks ranging from 3.5- to 4.6-magnitude, according to Afad.
Turkey is crisscrossed by several geological fault lines, which have previously caused catastrophes in the country.
A quake in February 2023 in the south-west killed at least 53,000 people and devastated Antakya – site of the ancient city of Antioch.
At the beginning of July, a 5.8-magnitude tremor in the same region resulted in one death and injured 69 people. AFP
