More than 150 injuries to Tibration in Istanbul – worry continues
The heavy quake of the strength 6.2 and the more than 50 sometimes strong aftershocks in Istanbul keep people in the metropolis in fear. According to the authorities, more than 150 people were injured. According to the Ministry of the Interior, there are no deaths to complain, residential buildings have not collapsed. However, experts warn that a large quake of strength 7 and more could be imminent.
People in panic jumped out of the windows
On the streets of the city with its 16 million inhabitants, dramatic scenes took place at noon after the approximately 13 seconds that lasted around 13 seconds. Many people fell out of the houses, many injured themselves when they panic from the windows. Families hurried to hospitals to pick up their sick relatives from there and bring them to safety, as the pictures of the State broadcaster showed. In some cases, telephone networks and the Internet were disturbed.
Long traffic jams, parks and streets were formed on the highways with people who preferred to endure in the open air. On a video from the DHA news agency, a veterinarian could be seen who operated a cat in the trunk of a car because she had previously been surprised by the quake during the procedure.
Initially no reports on damage
According to the Istanbuler There were no collapsed residential buildings; Only an empty house in the Fatih district should have collapsed. The citizens were asked to keep calm and not to approach damaged buildings. The Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, wrote on the platform X that there were no damage to roads, airports, trains and subways when the inventory was initiated.
Experts warn of possible further quakes
It could not be ruled out that another strong quake will follow, geologist Okan Tüysüz told the broadcaster NTV. The main quake will still come, wrote earthquake researcher Naci Görür on the platform X. In the Marmara Sea there is a tectonic plate border. The current shocks increased the tensions there, according to Görür.
At the Potsdam Helmholtz Center for Geof research (GFZ), the processes are also observed very well. The scientists said that it has been the hardest quake in the region for 25 years. « There are two scenarios at the present time: either the immediate region is now relaxed for the time being and the seismicity is slowly decaying, or the voltage conversions generated by the tremor increase the likelihood of greater earthquake in the region, » said the GFZ announcement.
Experts have long assumed that a quake around strength 7 in Istanbul is overdue. According to the Turkish urban minister of urban, 1.5 million apartments and commercial units are at risk of an earthquake.
Imamoglu: Can’t be with you on this difficult day
The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan assured the citizens that the Afad disaster service, the Ministry of Health and all other state institutions are on alert. « We are watching the situation exactly, » he said on the X platform.
Also the detained Turkish opposition leader and ex-mayor IstanbulEkrem imamoglu, spoke up on X. To the Istanbuler He expressed his grief about « not being able to be with you on this difficult day ». He appealed to unity, cohesion and solidarity in the fight against the natural disaster.
Last catastrophe two years ago
Turkey has painful experiences with earthquakes – at the beginning of 2023, two devastating quakes of 7.7 and 7.6 were killed in the Southeast Turkey and the north of Syria tens of thousands of people, and there were 53,000 victims in Turkey alone. Millions of people became homeless.
Also felt in neighboring countries
The current earthquake was also clearly felt in parts of Greece and Bulgaria. Just like Turkish seismologists, Greek scientists also fear that a big main quake could still be.
