Massive 7.8 Magnitude Quake Rocks Central Turkey
Two massive earthquake jolts shook central Turkey early on Monday morning, one after another, several reports confirmed. However, information on potential damages and casualties have not surfaced yet.
According to reports, the first quake measured at around 7.8 magnitude on the Richter scale. This was followed shortly by another quake that measured around 6.8 magnitude.
The tremors were centered about 33 kilometers or 20 miles from Gaziantep, a major city and the provincial capital, reported news agency Associated Press. It was around 26 kilometers or 16 miles from Nurdagi town.
Meanwhile, the tremors originated at about 18 kilometers depth, as per the United States Geological Survey. This was followed by the second jolt of quake around 10 minutes later.
On the other hand, the National Centre for Seismology (NCS) reported that the first quake measured around 7.5 on the Richter scale and occurred at around 6.47 am (IST). The depth of the quake was around 10 kilometers, while the epicenter was estimated about 399 kilometers North-North East (NNE) of Beirut, Lebanon.
NCS tweeted, “Earthquake of Magnitude:7.5, Occurred on 06-02-2023, 06:47:35 IST, Lat: 37.25 & Long: 37.07, Depth: 10 Km ,Location: 399km NNE of Beirut, Lebanon.”
In a further tweet, NCS mentioned that the initial quake was followed by a 6.8 magnitude tremor at around 6.58 am (IST). The location was estimated at around 412 kilometers North East (NE) of Nicosia, Cyprus.
“Earthquake of Magnitude:6.8, Occurred on 06-02-2023, 06:58:26 IST, Lat: 37.40 & Long: 37.08, Depth: 10 Km ,Location: 412km NE of Nicosia, Cyprus,” tweeted NCS.
It may be noted that as many as 7 people were killed and over 400 were injured after an earthquake of magnitude 5.9 on the Richter scale hit the city of Khoy in West Azarbaijan province of Iran on January 29. The quake also caused tremors in many cities nearby, according to TRT world.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) stated that the quake occurred at 23:44:44 (UTC+05:30) and hit 14 km south-southwest of Khoy at a depth of 10 km.
As per the Iranian news agency, IRNA, the tremors were quite strong and were felt in many areas of the West Azerbaijan province. It was also felt in several cities, including Tabriz, the provincial capital of neighbouring East Azerbaijan.