Two tourists died, and at least 200 people were injured in Greece, in the 6.7 magnitude earthquake that hit the Greek island of Kos , in the Aegean Sea, but also the Turkish city of Bodrum (the ancient Halicarnassus ), the southern Turkish coast and the neighboring Greek islands. PHOTO – VIDEO . After the quake there was also a small tsunami in the Bodrum area, where the waters reached up to a hundred meters inside the coast, without however causing serious damage. The aftershocks continue. Italians: ‘saved by a miracle’ – The testimony
The two victimsof the earthquake are two tourists, a Turkish and a Swedish, killed by the collapse of the roof of a bar. The injured are 120 on the island of Kos – three of whom are serious, the Guardian reports – and 70 in Bodrum. The Farnesina and the Italian Embassy in Athens are working to exclude the presence of compatriots among the victims or injured.
The epicenter of the earthquake was located 10 kilometers south of Bodrum and 16 kilometers south of Kos, at a depth of 10 kilometers. The earthquake was felt as far as the islands of Rhodes and Crete. The area is seismic and several tremors had been felt in the past weeks.
Frightened people left their homes and poured into the streets fearing that the houses might collapse.“The house looked like a top” says an Italian .
There are at least 160 aftershockswhich have followed so far the main one: the strongest was of magnitude 4.8. Such tremors will continue for a week, according to Ingv. The earthquake was generated by the Turkish-Anatolian blockade, “which moves fairly quickly westward, towards the Aegean, under the pressure of Arabia. In the whole Aegean, with Crete and the other islands, there are also deformations with active faults, which re-accommodate these movements “, continues Alessandro Amato of Eng. Mechanisms and areas other than those that caused the Amatrice earthquake in recent months. “In Italy, the Adriatic microplate plays a role, found under the Apennines and the Balkan area, generating deformations and earthquakes”, concludes the seismologist.
“In Smyrna the shock was felt as on the rest of the coast, since we are a few hundred kilometers from Bodrum”, said the Italian consul in Smyrna Iannuzzi. “We invite all compatriots to follow the recommendations of the local authorities. Our emergency contact numbers are available for anyone who needs them,” he added.
Hotel guests quickly returned to their rooms to retrieve personal items but decided to spend the rest of the night outdoors , with sheets and pillows taken from nearby deck chairs to set up makeshift beds.
Turkish authorities sent a ship from Bodrum to the neighboring Greek island of Kos to evacuate some 200 Turkish tourists. This was announced by the Ankara Foreign Ministry, explaining that it had received a special authorization from Athens to dock in the port, which has suffered some damage. The Ankara authorities also confirmed that one of the two confirmed victims in Kos is of Turkish nationality, without identifying her. Another Turk who was injured was reportedly in serious condition and was transported to hospital in Athens.
