19 people were killed in a strong earthquake in Turkey and the Greek islands

Written by Mehmet Amin Kaliskan, Murat Caesar

Izmir, Turkey (Reuters) – 19 people were killed in Turkey and Greece after a powerful earthquake struck the Aegean Sea on Friday, causing buildings to collapse and triggering tsunamis that swept across coastal areas and islands.

Eyewitnesses said that people took to the streets in a state of panic in the Turkish city of Izmir, after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck. The neighborhoods were inundated with flowing seawater that washed away internal debris and left the fish stranded as they receded.

The Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) said that 17 people died, one of them by drowning, while 709 people were injured. On the Greek island of Samos, two teenagers, a boy and a girl, were found dead in an area where a wall collapsed.

The Disaster and Emergency Management Department said that search and rescue operations continued until 17 buildings collapsed or damaged in Izmir. Urbanization Minister Murat Corum said that the authorities are setting up tents with a total capacity of 2,000 people near the worst-affected areas.

Elk Sid, a doctoral student who was in the Gozelbakhshe region of Izmir during the earthquake, said he went inland after the water levels rose in the aftermath of the earthquake.

“I am very used to earthquakes … so I didn’t take it seriously at first but this time it was really scary,” he said, adding that the quake lasted at least 25-30 seconds.

Intersected by major fault lines, Turkey is among the countries most earthquake-prone in the world. More than 17,000 people were killed in August 1999 when a 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck Izmit, southeast of Istanbul. In 2011, an earthquake in the eastern city of Van killed more than 500 people.

Floods

Ismail Yetskin, mayor of Seferihisar in Izmir, said that sea levels had risen as a result of the earthquake. “It looks like there are small tsunamis,” he told NTV.

Video footage on social media showed debris including refrigerators, chairs and tables floating in the streets on the deluge. The TRT Haber channel showed that the cars in the Seferihisar neighborhood of Izmir were pulled by water and piled on top of each other.

Edel Gungur, who runs a hotel in Sverihisar, Izmir, told NTV that people were cleaning up debris after the flood waters receded. She said the fish washed her down in the hotel garden, about 50 meters (55 yards) from the beach.

Eftihimos Likas, head of the Greek earthquake organization, told Greek Sky TV that residents of the Greek island of Samos, which has a population of about 45,000, have been urged to move away from coastal areas.

“It was a very big earthquake, and it’s hard to have a bigger earthquake,” said Lykas.

Severe tsunami warnings were issued in Samos, with eight people also injured, according to a Greek official.

“We’ve never seen anything like this before,” said George Dionisio, the local deputy mayor. “People are in a panic.” A Greek police spokesman said some old buildings on the island were damaged.

The Turkish presidency said that the leaders of Turkey and Greece – which have been locked in a bitter dispute over exploration rights in the eastern Mediterranean – spoke on the phone and expressed their hope that the two countries would witness a speedy recovery from the earthquake.

The two leaders said they are ready to help the other country if needed and stressed the importance of solidarity.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis wrote in a tweet, “Whatever our differences, these are times when our people need to stand together.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote in a tweet in response to Mistutakis: “The two neighbors show solidarity in difficult times is more valuable than many things in life.”

The cooperation between the two countries after the devastating earthquake of 1999 led to a period of warm relations between them.

The Disaster and Emergency Management Agency estimated the quake’s strength at 6.6, while the US Geological Survey said it was 7.0. Media said the earthquake was felt along the Turkish Aegean coast and the northwestern Marmara region.

(Report from Ali Kukukjukman and Ace Toksabai); Reported by René Malteso, Angeliki Cottanto and Michel Campas; Editing by Izgy Erkoyon, Dominic Evans, John Boyle, Susan Fenton, Emilia Sethole Matares and Jonathan Otis

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