At least three people have been injured, including one in critical condition, by an earthquake measuring 4.9 on the open Richter scale that struck the western Turkish province of Izmir on Friday, officials have confirmed.
The Presidency for Disaster and Emergency Management (AFAD) has indicated that the epicenter was located in the district of Buca and added that the area has been affected by several aftershocks. According to reports reported by the Turkish daily ‘Hurriyet’, the earthquake toppled the minaret of a mosque in the area and caused panic among residents.
The Minister of Interior, Suleyman Soylu, has detailed in his account on the social network Twitter that the injured have jumped from windows of their homes trying to escape after traveling to the area to analyze the situation, while the mayor of Izmir, Tunc Soyer, has stressed that «apart from the panic, fear and alarm, there are no negative reports».
The earthquake occurred days after the people of Izmir commemorated the victims of a 6.6 magnitude earthquake that killed 117 people on October 30, 2020. The country has been the scene of numerous earthquakes in recent years, including nearly 17,000 deaths in a magnitude 7.4 quake in 1999 in the northwestern province of Kocaeli.
