Powerful earthquake shakes Istanbul, dozens hurt jumping from buildings

ISTANBUL – More than 150 people were injured when they jumped from buildings in Istanbul on April 23 as one of the strongest quakes in years hit the city.

Many people gathered in parks and others sat on doorsteps, or stood outside their homes in the centre of Istanbul as aftershocks from the magnitude 6.2 quake on the European side of the city continued to be felt.

“It started with a big tremor all of a sudden and we felt it very strongly,” said Istanbul resident Neslisah Aygoren, sitting in a park.

“I ran straight to my dog in fear, hugged it and we waited for it to end, lying on the ground. After that, we took our belongings and went straight to the street.”

A total of 151 people were hurt and received hospital treatment after leaping from buildings in panic during the tremor but none were in a critical condition, the Istanbul governor’s office said.

It said one abandoned building collapsed in central Istanbul, but nobody was hurt there, while there was no damage to energy or water infrastructure in the city of 16 million on the European and Asian shores of the Bosphorus Strait. Some shops closed.

Two years ago Turkey suffered the deadliest and most destructive earthquake in its modern history.

That 7.8-magnitude quake in February 2023 killed more than 55,000 people and injured more than 107,000 in southern Turkey and northern Syria.

Hundreds of thousands of people remain displaced, with many still living in temporary housing as a result of that quake.

The latest tremor also revived memories of a 1999 earthquake near Istanbul that killed 17,000.

The epicentre of the April 23 quake, which hit at 12.49pm (5.49pm in Singapore), was in the area of Silivri, some 80km to the west of Istanbul. It was at a depth of 6.92km, Turkey’s AFAD disaster agency said.

Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said inspections did not reveal any damage to highways, airports, trains or subways.

President Tayyip Erdogan said on X he was monitoring the situation and his office issued advice on what people should do in the case of further quakes. REUTERS

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