Turkey, Greece Earthquake Kills 2, Injures Hundreds

Ada Carr and Sean Breslin
Published: July 21,2017
An earthquake that struck Turkey overnight Thursday triggered a small tsunami after it created powerful tremors that were also felt in Greece.
The 6.7 magnitude quake killed two and injured at least 500 people, officials told the Associated Press. The epicenter was 6.2 miles south-southeast of the city of Bodrum, and the temblor hit at a depth of roughly 6.2 miles.
The two victims were tourists from Sweden and Turkey who were visiting the Greek island of Kos, the AP also said. They were crushed when a building collapsed on a bar. Their identities have not been released, but the victim from Sweden was identified as a 20-year-old male. Thirteen others were airlifted to hospitals in Athens, as well as Rhodes and Crete islands, because of serious injuries, the report added.
"We were asleep and we just felt the room shaking," British student Naomi Ruddock, who was visiting Kos, told BBC.com. "The room moved. Literally everything was moving. And it kind of felt like you were on a boat and it was swaying really fast from side to side, you felt seasick."
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The Euro-Med Seismological Centre (EMSC) confirmed the tsunami and warned people to avoid beaches. Photos posted to social media showed water flooding buildings and structural damage left behind by the quake.
"There was banging. There was shaking. The light was swinging, banging on the ceiling, crockery falling out of the cupboards, and pans were making noise," Scottish diving instructor Christopher Hackland told the AP.
The earthquake struck an area near popular tourist resorts. It affected Mugla Province, which is close to resorts like the Marmaris Resort Hotel, the Daily Mirror reported.
"We woke up and the room was shaking," Fred Nathan, who was vacationing in Turkey at the time of the quake, told the Sun. "It was really disorientating. We got up to look out the room and it was still shaking. It seems like it was felt all over the island."
The EU has offered emergency equipment and personnel to help the area recover from the tremor, the AP also said.

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