Earthquake of magnitude 7.0 hits western Turkey

A 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit the Aegean Sea on Friday afternoon, jolting western Turkey and destroying buildings in coastal cities there.

There are reports of several buildings being demolished in the Turkish city of Izmir due to a powerful earthquake. Izmir is the third largest city of Turkey.

According to the Mayor of Izmir, there are reports of 20 buildings being destroyed.

However, according to the news agency Reuters, Turkish home minister Suleiman Soylu says that six buildings in the two Izmir's districts on the beach have been destroyed.

At the same time, earthquake tremors have been felt in the island of Samos in Greece. There are also reports of destruction due to earthquake from here.

It is being told that the earthquake intensity on the Richter scale has been measured to 7.0 and this has affected Turkey, Athens and Greece.

The epicenter of the earthquake is being reported in the Aegear Sea. Experts say that tsunami cannot be ruled out due to earthquake.

So far no information has been found about the casualties due to the earthquake.

According to the US Geological Survey, an earthquake measuring 17 on the Richter scale struck 17 kilometers off the coast of the western Turkish province of Amzir.

Izmir mayor Tunc Soyer told CNN Turk that about 20 buildings collapsed. The city is the third biggest in Turkey with about 4,5 million residents. Turkey’s interior minister tweeted six buildings in Izmir were destroyed. He said there were small cracks in some buildings in six other provinces.

Izmir’s governor said there was no immediate information on casualties.

Turkish media said the earthquake was felt across the regions of Aegean and Marmara, including Istanbul. Istanbul’s governor said there were no reports of damage in the city.

Turkey and Greece reported aftershocks. The quake was also felt in Bulgaria.

Greek seismologist Efthymios Lekkas told Greek state television ERT that it was still too early to say whether this was the main earthquake, although he said it was likely it was.

“It is an event that is evolving,” Lekkas said, adding that some damage had been reported in parts of Samos.

A tsunami warning was issued, with residents of the Samos area told to stay away from the coastline. Water rose above the dock in the main harbor of Samos and flooded the street.