Magnitude 6 quake shakes western Turkey; injuries reported

An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 6.0 hit western Turkey on Thursday, damaging homes and causing some injuries.

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The quake was centered on the town of Bozkurt, in Denizli province, Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency said.

The agency said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.0 and struck at 2:25 p.m. local time (1125 GMT) The Istanbul-based Kandilli seismology center said the quake was less powerful, measuring it at 5.7.

Bozkurt’s mayor, Birsen Celik, told NTV television that the quake knocked down two houses in the town and that residents escaped with slight injuries. Several other homes were damaged with cracked walls.

People ran out into the streets in panic, she said, adding that residents were being urged not to return to damaged homes.

Scores of houses were also damaged in the nearby town of Tutluca, but no one was hurt there, according to its mayor, Hudai Karasahin. The quake meanwhile, caused the minaret of a mosque to topple in the village of Agdan.

The quake was felt in the neighboring provinces of Antalya, Mugla, Isparta and Burdur, where people also ran out of their homes.

Turkey is prone to earthquakes. In 1999, a magnitude-7.4 quake killed more than 17,000 people in northwestern Turkey.

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