Turkey and Greece were hit with a major earthquake of 7.0 magnitude on Friday, jolting western Turkey and ravaging building in coastal cities there. The tremors of the earthquake were felt as far away as Athens and Istanbul. At least 4 people have been killed due to the earthquake.
According to the US Geological Survey, the epicentre of the quake was registered about 14 kilometres off the Greek town of Neon Karlovasion on the Aegean Sea island of Samos.
However, Turkey reported the magnitude of the quake at 6.6, saying 20 buildings collapsed in the city of Izmir.
Social media websites are rife with videos and photos of the devastation caused by the earthquake in the Izmir town of Turkey. In one such video that is now going viral on the internet, a building can be seen collapsing following the earthquake.
https://twitter.com/EnesKanter/status/1322173201959559169?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwAs per reports, the earthquake had given rise to the threat of tsunami along the coastal regions of the two countries and many social media users are posting videos, claiming that cities along the coast are witnessing flooding of the seawater.
https://twitter.com/earthquakevt/status/1322174670980976641?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://twitter.com/aikminutepk/status/1322173285057155075?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwAccording to USGS, the earthquake occurred as the result of normal faulting at a shallow crustal depth within the Eurasia tectonic plate in the eastern Aegean Sea. “The focal mechanism solution indicates that the earthquake occurred on a moderately dipping normal fault striking either eastward or westward”, it said.
Turkey and Greece are prone to earthquake
Turkey and Greece sit on fault lines and earthquakes are a common occurrence in the region. In January this year, more than 30 people were killed and over 1,600 injured after an earthquake hit Sivrice in Turkey’s eastern Elazig province. Before that, in July 2019, Greek capital Athens was jolted by a tremor that plunged many parts of the city into darkness.
About 2 decades back, a very powerful earthquake rattled the Turkish city of Izmit, near Istanbul. More than 17,000 had been killed in that earthquake.