ISTANBUL (AP) – On Sunday, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake rattled Turkey's northwestern province of Balikesir, leading to the death of at least one person and the collapse of over a dozen buildings, according to official reports. The event also resulted in injuries to at least 29 individuals, who are receiving medical attention.
The epicenter of the earthquake was located in the town of Sindirgi, with tremors being felt as far away as 200 kilometers (approximately 125 miles) to the north, in Istanbul, which is home to more than 16 million residents.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya provided updates to the media, confirming that an elderly woman passed away shortly after being rescued from the rubble of a collapsed structure in Sindirgi. Additional reports indicated that four more individuals were successfully extracted from the debris of the same building.
Yerlikaya also noted that a total of 16 buildings had collapsed throughout the affected region, most of which were reported to be in a derelict and unused state. In addition, two minarets of local mosques were also destroyed in the quake.
Fortunately, none of the injured individuals were reported to be in serious condition, according to Yerlikaya. Eyewitness accounts and television footage depicted rescue teams conducting their operations with heightened vigilance, often pausing to listen for any signs of life amidst the remnants of the collapsed structures.
The Turkey Disaster and Emergency Management Agency reported that the earthquake was succeeded by several aftershocks, including one that measured 4.6 on the Richter scale. Residents were cautioned against entering any damaged buildings due to safety concerns.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his well-wishes for the swift recovery of all those impacted by the earthquake. He took to platform X to communicate, “May God protect our country from any kind of disaster.”
Earthquakes are a frequent occurrence in Turkey, a nation located on significant fault lines. This latest earthquake comes less than a year after a devastating magnitude 7.8 tremor struck in 2023, which resulted in the tragic loss of over 53,000 lives and caused the destruction or damage of hundreds of thousands of buildings across 11 provinces in the southern and southeastern parts of the country. Additionally, it was reported that another 6,000 fatalities occurred in the northern regions of neighboring Syria during the same disaster.
