People injured and buildings destroyed as 5,5-magnitude earthquake hits southwestern Turkey

The south-western province of Denizli in Turkey was on Wednesday morning struck by a 5,5 magnitude earthquake.

A news report by the Demiroren News Agency (DHA) said the earthquake hit the Acipayam district at 9:34 a.m. local time, at a depth of 11,3 kilometers. The news report quoted a statement by Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD).

Murat Kurum, the Minister for Environment and Urban Planning, said the earthquake injured 22 people and damaged 278 buildings.

The earthquake was also felt in the neighboring provinces of Izmir, Aydin, Mugla, Usak, Isparta, Burdur and Antalya and followed by 28 aftershocks, measuring magnitudes between 4,8 and 3,2, Evrensel daily reported on Wednesday.

The Istanbul-based Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute measured the quake’s magnitude at 5,7 and said it was centered in the Yenikoy neighborhood of Acipayam district.

Authorities evacuated a hospital in Acipayam as a precaution, while schools in the region were shut.

Frank Hoogerbeets, a Dutch self-described “quake mystic” with a worldwide cult following, said at the end of February a magnitude-7 earthquake might hit Turkey.

Claiming to have predicted some of the world’s worst earthquakes by analyzing the geometric positions of the sun, moon and various planets, Hoogerbeets said: “A magnitude-7 earthquake might hit Turkey. But we do not know the exact date of it.”

Turkey is a seismically active area lying on two major fault lines and earthquakes are frequent. In 1999, a magnitude-7,4 quake killed more than 17,000 people in northwestern Turkey.

Marmara quake sparks fears of a big one to hit Istanbul

The post People injured and buildings destroyed as 5,5-magnitude earthquake hits southwestern Turkey appeared first on IPA NEWS.

from IPA NEWS https://ipa.news/2019/03/21/people-injured-and-buildings-destroyed-as-55-magnitude-earthquake-hits-southwestern-turkey/