Dozens get injured after magnitude-5.9 quake strikes western Türkiye

At least 78 people have been injured in a magnitude-5.9 earthquake that rattled western Türkiye early on Wednesday, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said, according to state news agency Anadolu. One person was seriously injured after jumping out a window in panic, broadcaster CNN Türk reported. The epicentre was located in the Black Sea province of Düzce, disaster control authority AFAD said, but tremors could be felt as far away as Istanbul, some 200 kilometres from Düzce, and Ankara at around 4 am (0100 GMT). The quake was followed by at least 100 aftershocks, according to AFAD. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recorded the magnitude as 6.1, while the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) spoke of a magnitude-6 quake. The mayor of Düzce, Faruk Özlü, told broadcaster CNN Türk that panic had broken out among citizens, but so far there were no reports of casualties or of anyone seriously injured. There has so far also been no significant damage to buildings, Özlü said. AFAD announced it was interrupting power supply in the region for control purposes and urged people to remain calm. Türkiye lies on both the Eurasian and the African tectonic plate, which makes it a hotspot for seismic activity. One of the most serious quakes of the past years occurred in October 2020 in the city of İzmir on the Aegean Sea, in which more than 100 people died. In November 1999, a 6.3-magnitude quake killed about 900 people in the Düzce region. In September of the same year, a particularly strong quake with a magnitude of 7.4 claimed the lives of more than 17,100 people in the region around the industrial city of İzmit, about 130 kilometres away. Experts also expect a strong quake for Türkiye's largest city Istanbul in the near future.