At least one woman killed as 6.1 magnitude earthquake rocks Turkey
People had to be pulled from the rubble of destroyed buildings as a huge earthquake struck Turkey.
The magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck Turkey’s northwestern province of Balikesir on Sunday, killing at least one person and injuring at least 29.
The earthquake, with an epicenter in the town of Sindirgi, sent shocks that were felt some 125 miles to the north of the capital Istanbul – a city of more than 16 million people.
An elderly woman died shortly after being pulled out alive from the debris of a collapsed building in Sindirgi, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya told reporters.
Four other people were rescued from the building.
Television footage showed rescue teams asking for silence so they can listen for signs of life beneath the rubble.
Yerlikaya said a total of 16 buildings collapsed in the region – most of them derelict and unused. Two mosque minarets also tumbled down, he said.
Turkey’s disaster and emergency management agency said the earthquake was followed by several aftershocks, including one measuring 4.6, and urged citizens not to enter damaged buildings.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a statement wishing all the victims a speedy recovery.
‘May God protect our country from any kind of disaster,’ he wrote on X.
Turkey sits on top of major fault lines and earthquakes are frequent.
In 2023, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake killed more than 53,000 people in Turkey and destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of buildings in 11 southern and south-eastern provinces.
Another 6,000 people were killed in the northern parts of neighbouring Syria.