A massive earthquake of 6.7 magnitude has hit the coastal areas of Turkey and Greece, leaving more than 200 injured and killing two.
The earthquake struck near major tourist destinations around the Aegean sea in the early hours of Friday. The quake has hit south of the Turkish city of Bodrum and east of the Greek island of Kos where more than 120 people were injured and seventy more were injured in Turkey.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said it was a very shallow quake – only 10km below the seabed off the southwestern coastal city of Marmaris in the Mugla province. The epicentre of the earthquake was just 10km south of the Turkish resort of Bodrum and 16km east-northeast of Kos.
The Turkish towns of Bodrum and Datca, and Kos in the Dodecanese Islands archipelago are all major tourist destinations in these two countries. As it is the best time to visit, there were more than 8000 British holidaymakers in Kos when the earthquake struck.
George Kyritsis, the mayor of Kos told that at least two people were killed on the Greek island and several were injured by the quake. He later added that the two dead were foreigners.
A hospital official said that the 2 foreigners were killed when the ceiling of a building collapsed. The emergency services said the affected area was a bar in the centre of Kos town.
The port was among structures that sustained the damage and a ferry en route there was not docking, the coast guard said. The fire service of Greece said it had rescued three injured persons from a damaged building.
The Chairman of Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency of Turkey (AFAD), Mehmet Halis Bilden, warned the citizens of these two countries about incoming aftershocks. The citizens need to know about the disaster and they need to know about the repeated aftershocks.
Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency of Turkey said it had observed at least 20 aftershocks in Turkey and Greece following the main shock at 1.31am local time on Friday (22.31 GMT on Thursday). At least five of the aftershocks registered over 4.0 magnitude, with the largest so far at 4.6. A magnitude 6.7 quake is considered strong and is capable of causing considerable damage, but the effects of this one would have been lessened by striking in the sea. The European quake agency EMSC said a small tsunami could be caused by the quake, but Turkish broadcasters cited officials saying large waves were more likely.
