Violent earthquake shakes western Turkey – more than 20 injured This Russian woman organizes the deportation of Ukrainian children

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter that at least 22 people were injured, including one seriously injured. The tremors were felt around 4 a.m. local time even in the 16 million metropolis of Istanbul, some 200 kilometers away, and in the Turkish capital Ankara. There were several aftershocks.

The mayor of the provincial capital of the same name, Düzce, Faruk Özlü, reported on CNN Türk that the residents panicked. However, so far there has been no major damage to buildings and no fatalities. The station showed images of people wrapped in blankets standing in the street. It was “incredibly wobbly,” reported a local journalist. Civil protection announced to cut power in the region for monitoring purposes. The authority called on everyone to remain calm.

Few countries are more affected by strong earthquakes than Turkey, where two of the largest continental plates meet: the African and Eurasian plates. In fact, most of the Turkish population lives in constant danger from earthquakes.

In October 2020, more than 100 people died in Izmir in one of the strongest earthquakes in recent years. In November 1999, about 900 people died in a magnitude 6.3 earthquake in the Düzce region. In September of the same year, Turkey was hit by one of the worst natural disasters in its history: a magnitude 7.4 earthquake in the region around the northwestern industrial city of Izmir claimed the lives of more than 17,000 people. Experts also expect a strong earthquake in Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul, in the near future. (sda/dpa)