Magnitude 5.5 earthquake strikes central Türkiye with more tremors expected over the next two years

Civilians look for survivors under the rubble of collapsed buildings in Kahramanmaras, close to the quake's epicentre, the day after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the country's south east. Picture: Adem Altan/ AFP

Civilians look for survivors under the rubble of collapsed buildings in Kahramanmaras, close to the quake's epicentre, the day after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the country's south east. Picture: Adem Altan/ AFP

Published Feb 26, 2023

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A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck central Türkiye on Saturday, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said.

The quake was measured at a depth of 10 kilometres with Türkiye’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (Afet ve Acil Durum Yönetimi Başkanlığı), abbreviated as AFAD.

The Kandilli earthquake monitoring centre told local media that the epicentre was located in the district of Bor, in the Turkish province of Nigde.

Nidge is situated around 350 kilometres west of the Turkish-Syrian border region that was struck by two major quakes earlier this month.

Mayor Emrah Ozdemir told state broadcaster TRT that no damage was reported yet with Turkish Vice President Fuat Okta tweeting that disaster management teams are on site to assess the aftermath.

According to AFAD, at least seven tremors over magnitude four had been recorded since Friday evening in Türkiye, including the quake-hit south.

More than 9500 aftershocks have followed the devastating 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude quakes three weeks ago that left more than 50 000 people dead in Türkiye and Syria.

AFAD’s Orhan Tatar told reporters in Ankara that tremors are expected to continue for the next two years. A series of tremors were also recorded in war-torn Syria and neighbouring Iraq on Saturday.

At least 44 000 of the deaths were recorded in Türkiye alone, according to AFAD.

More than 173 000 buildings were destroyed or damaged and nearly two million locals were made homeless, according to government data.

In Syria, 5 900 deaths have been reported so far, although a war monitor has said that 6 760 people have died.

The February 6 disasters are expected to have cost Türkiye $84 billion (R1,512 trillion).