Turkey and Greece hit by massive earthquake: at least two dead and 200 injured

An incredibly strong Earthquake with a magnitude of 6.7 has hit the Greek island of Kos and towns on the coasts of Greece and Turkey. At least two people have died in the earthquake, with a further 200 injured. Where the earthquake hit was near the main hotspots for tourists in the area, around the Aegean Sea. The quake took place in the early hours of this morning, according to officials from both Turkey and Greece.

Of the 200 people injured, at least 120 of them were wounded on Kos, with at least 70 of them injured in Turkey.

The USGS says it was a shallow earthquake

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), America’s earthquake-monitoring survey, this earthquake was very shallow. It took place just 6.2 miles (10km) beneath the seabed. It happened just off the southwestern coast, near the city of Marmaris, which is in the province of Mugla.

The earthquake’s epicentre was a mere 10km south of the Turkish resort of Bodrum – a tourist hotspot – and 16km east-northeast of the Greek island Kos. Kos (located in the Dodecanese Islands archipelago), Bodrum, and the Turkish town of Datca are all the main tourist spots, and it’s currently the middle of July, so a lot of unsuspecting holiday goers will have been affected by this terrible earthquake.

Mayor George Kyritsis of Kos has spoken to Reuters news agency about the earthquake. He confirmed to them that at least two people have been killed on his island in the earthquake, while many more have been injured. His exact words were: “We have two dead, and some people injured so far.” Also, he later said that the two confirmed deaths were not Kos locals and were instead foreigners.

Despite deaths, ‘the effects have been very small,’ says Greece’s top geology expert

The top geology expert of Greece, Professor Ethymios Lekkas, has spoken out about the earthquake. He also runs the country’s anti-seismic protection organisation. He warns of aftershocks in the near future for Kos, calling the incident “a big earthquake,” after which “aftershocks are happening and will happen.” The tremors from the quake are “totally natural,” according to Professor Lekkas.

However, Lekkas added that given the size and magnitude of the quake, the damage and effects had not matched the same scope. He did acknowledge that two people have died in the earthquake, calling that “the exception,” but he said that even despite this, relative to the size of the quake, “the effects have been very small.” Describing the damage caused by the earthquake, Lekkas said that “only the port and two very big buildings have really been affected by it.”

Newly constructed hotels have survived the earthquake

Some hotel resorts that have recently been built managed to survive the earthquake completely undamaged, which Professor Lekkas says is a testament to the anti-earthquake measures taken by their builders.

However, there’s a bar whose roof collapsed in the quake, causing a lot of the injuries.

Among the 200 injuries from the earthquake, Greek authorities have confirmed five as being serious. Those people – two from Sweden, one from Norway, and two from Greece – have been flown into Crete by emergency services to be treated for their injuries. One of them has suffered a terrible leg injury. Though it has yet to be confirmed, these five people are believed to have been in the bar whose roof caved in at the strike of the quake.

After the earthquake had hit, the local hospital on Kos saw 95 people admitted, either by themselves or others, in the space of two hours between 2 am and 4am this morning. 85 more were treated with first aid and sent away without the need to be properly admitted for treatment.