Strong earthquakes shakes metropolis of Istanbul

The Turkish metropolis of Istanbul has been shaken by several earthquakes. At 12.49 p.m., the Afad disaster service registered the strongest quake of the strength 6.2 with epicenter in the Marmarameer in front of the city. Numerous other earthquakes of the strengths 4 to 5 followed.

People in the city with its 16 million inhabitants left houses and apartments and hosted outdoors during the aftershogs. According to reports from the State broadcaster, people took their relatives from hospitals. Some of the telephone network and the Internet were disturbed.

Initially no reports on damage

According to the Istanbul governor’s office, there were initially no reports on collapsed buildings. 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.

« I express my best wishes to our citizens, » said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the X platform. « We watch the situation exactly ». Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya expressed his sympathy on platform X to all affected people.

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.

Experts have long assumed that a quake around strength 7 in Istanbul is overdue. Rather, the current vibrations increased the tensions, according to Görür. According to the Turkish urban minister of urban, 1.5 million apartments and commercial units are at risk of an earthquake.

The earthquake was also clearly felt in parts of the neighboring country of Greece. Greek media reported, especially in the northeast at the Evros border river Evros to Türkiye. There were also reports about the earthquakes of a number of Aegean Islands, including Chios and Lesbos. However, there was no damage.

The quake was also felt in the northwestern Bulgaria, the strongest in the southeastern border area and in the region of Burga on the Black Sea, as the Geophysical Institute in Sofia announced.