5.5 Quake Hits Southeast Turkey, Causing Limited Damage
An earthquake of 5.5 magnitude jolted southeastern Turkey Thursday, Turkey's quake observatory said, knocking the minaret off a mosque in the city of Sirnak but injuring no-one, officials said.
The tremor shook the southeastern province of Sirnak at 0552 GMT, 5.4 kilometers (3.3 miles) below the ground, Istanbul-based Kandilli Observatory announced on its website.
The quake caused no loss of life or injuries, according to a preliminary report by Turkey's disaster and emergency management presidency, AFAD.
"The situation is now under control. We have no reports of injuries or major damage to buildings, except for the toppled minaret of a Sirnak mosque," Murat Nurlu, head of the AFAD earthquake department, told Anatolia news agency.
Local people also reported cracks in buildings, prompting officials to warn people to stay clear of damaged houses as experts warned of possible aftershocks.
The quake came within the week of another earthquake of 6.0 magnitude that shook a tourist resort in the southwest coast, causing panic and sending dozens to hospitals after many jumped from buildings in fear.
Turkey is crossed by several fault lines and slight tremors are an everyday occurrence.
A powerful quake that shook eastern Turkey on October 23 last year, killed more than 600 people. It was followed on November 12 by a 5.6-magnitude tremor that killed another 40 people in the same area.
In 1999, two strong quakes in heavily populated and industrialized parts of northwest Turkey left some 20,000 people dead.
Source: Agence France Presse
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