Spanish
Ankara.- At least one person died this Sunday, and six were injured, by a 6.1 magnitude earthquake that shook the Marmara region, in northwestern Turkey, causing the collapse of several buildings.
The mayor of the city of Balikesir, Ahmet Akin, told the local press that a man whose identity has not yet been determined lost his life after being buried in one of the collapsed buildings.
The earthquake occurred at 19:53 local time (16:53 GMT), with its epicenter in the Sindirgi district, in the province of Balikesir, at a depth of 11 kilometers, according to information published by the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD).
The tremor was felt over a wide area that included large cities such as Istanbul (located more than 200 kilometers from the epicenter and with a population of over 16 million), Izmir, Bursa, and Kocaeli.
In statements to the Turkish news channel NTV, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said that five people, including an elderly woman, were rescued alive from a collapsed building in Sindirgi, while rescuers were trying to reach another person trapped in the rubble.
Previously, Sindirgi Mayor Serkan Sak had stated that a total of ten buildings collapsed in the territory of his municipality, although he also spoke of an unspecified number of "collapses in many neighborhoods" and admitted that information was not available from all locations.
So far, four injured people have been hospitalized, with none of them in life-threatening condition, as confirmed to the press by both Yerlikaya and the Health Minister, Kemal Memisoglu.
So far, a total of twenty aftershocks have occurred, five of which were of a magnitude greater than 4, the AFAD indicated in a statement published on social media.
"In the search and rescue operations in the region, 319 personnel and 79 vehicles are deployed," the note adds, specifying that the emergency call centers 112 have received so far "24 damage reports," while "detection work continues."
NTV said in many cities people went out into the streets in panic.
Istanbul Governor Davut Gul said that no problems had been recorded in that city, the largest in Turkey, although "detection tests" were still being carried out.
On August 17, 1999, the Marmara region was struck by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake that caused the deaths of 19,000 people and injured another 50,000.
