Watch: Buildings collapse after magnitude 6.1 earthquake in Turkey’s Balikesir province | World News


An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.1 struck western Turkey on Sunday, causing significant damage in the country’s northwestern Balikesir province. Videos from the area showed buildings collapsing during the tremors. The officials reported that the quake destroyed about a dozen structures.

The quake’s epicentre was in the town of Sindirgi and tremors were felt as far as 200 kilometres (125 miles) away in Istanbul.

Sindirgi Mayor Serkan Sak told HaberTurk TV that four people were rescued from the rubble of a collapsed building, while efforts were under way to reach two others. He said several homes in the nearby village of Golcuk had fallen and a mosque’s minaret had toppled.

Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu wrote on X that four people were in hospital, none in critical condition.

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“Our hope is to get through this without any loss of life,” Balikesir city mayor Ahmet Akin told HaberTurk.

Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Agency said the quake was followed by several aftershocks, the largest at magnitude 4.6, and urged residents to avoid damaged buildings.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan posted on X wishing those affected a speedy recovery and wrote: “May God protect our country from any kind of disaster.”

Turkey sits on major fault lines and experiences frequent earthquakes. In 2023, a magnitude 7.8 quake killed more than 53,000 people in Turkey and 6,000 in northern Syria.





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