Eastern Turkey rattled by magnitude 5.9 earthquake, felt also in Syria
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An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.9 struck eastern Turkey’s Malatya province on Wednesday, the country’s disaster and emergency management authority (AFAD) said, adding that there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
AFAD said the quake occurred at 10:46 a.m.(0746 GMT) with its epicentre in the district of Kale, some 40 km (25 miles) east of the city of Malatya.
“Our teams are on alert and field scanning operations are ongoing,” it added.
The quake was also felt in Syria’s Hasakah, Deir al-Zor and Aleppo provinces, the country’s state news agency said.
The European Mediterranean Seismological Centre said the quake had a 6.1 magnitude and was at a depth of 9 km (5.6 miles) below the earth.
The Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said three buildings had “partially collapsed” in three separate areas and that the emergency services had received several dozen calls for help.
Local officials in Malatya also said there were no “negative developments” to report at this stage, although the provincial governor said all primary and secondary schools would be closed for the day.
The tremor was strongly felt in several large cities in the region, including Diyarbakır which lies some 140 kilometers (nearly 90 miles) to the southeast, according to AFP correspondents on the ground.
