earthquake turkey
© Reuters
On 23 January, a 5.4 magnitude earthquake hit the western Turkish province of Manisa with no people being injured or killed in the incident, according to provincial Governor Ahmet Deniz.

A strong 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck eastern Turkey at 17:55:10 GMT, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) reported. The epicentre of the earthquake was located 210 kilometres northeast of Gaziantep and 10 kilometres north of Doganyol, Turkey at a depth of two kilometres, according to the centre.

According to the EMSC, the earthquake was felt in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Israel.


"A 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck near the city of Sivrice at 20:55 [17:50 GMT]. The epicentre was located at a depth of 7 kilometres. There is no information about any damage and victims yet," Mehmet Gulluoglu, the head of the country's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority, said, as aired by the Turkish NTV broadcaster.

The earthquake in Turkey's east has left two people injured, presumably causing no deaths, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu stated.


"We maintain contact with all the public agencies and rescue services of every province. There is no information about any fatalities so far. Two people were injured. There are no fatalities and casualties in the [city of] Elazig itself. There is information about some destroyed buildings in the provincial villages. Rescue workers are currently operating there. After the main blow, aftershocks are registered, and their magnitude exceeds five points," Soylu told reporters.


The minister continued on by saying that "Sivrice was shaken very seriously," adding that rescue teams have been directed to the region.

According to the head of Elazıg province, emergency teams have already started working at the site.


Social media users have shared videos of furniture shaking and trembling in various Turkish cities.


The quake follows tremors that were registered between the towns of Kirkagac and Akhisar a day earlier, according to a spokesperson for the regional authorities.

Turkey is located in a seismically active zone and often suffers from powerful earthquakes. The two deadliest quakes in the country occurred in 115 AD and 526 AD. Both disasters devastated the city of Antioch, leaving some 260,000 and 250,000 people dead, respectively.