A powerful earthquake struck Greek islands early Friday morning, damaging buildings and a port, killing at least two people and causing more than 120 injuries, authorities said.
The 6.5-magnitude quake rattled Turkey’s Aegean coast as well, but Kos was nearest to the epicentre and appeared to be the worst-hit, with all of the deaths and injuries reported there. Buildings with damage included the old mosque and a 14th-century fortress at the entrance to the main port
Giorgos Hadjimarkos, regional governor, said four or five of the injuries were “worrying” and damaged buildings were being inspected, but the “main priority at the moment is saving lives.” The Kos hospital said at least 20 of the injured had broken bones.
Fire Service rescue chief Stephanos Kolokouris told state television that the two men had been identified as tourists from Turkey and Sweden but gave no further details. The two tourists died after a wall collapsed onto a bar in the
Old Town of the island’s main port, he said.
Fallen bricks and other damage were seen in Kos’s “old town” area, full of bars and other nighttime entertainment. Hundreds of tourists were spending the rest of the night outdoors, resting on beach loungers with blankets provided by staff
“The rest of the island has no problem. It’s only the main town that has a problem,” Kos Mayor Giorgos Kyritsis told state-run Greek media. “The buildings affected were mostly old, and were built before the earthquake building codes were introduced.”
Rescuers were checking for trapped people inside houses after the quake struck in the middle of the night. Kyritsis said the army was mobilized along with emergency services. The island’s port was among structures that sustained damaged and a ferry en route there was not docking, the coast guard said.
Authorities had warned of a localized tsunami, and witnesses described a “swelling” of the sea after the earthquake. A seafront road and parts of the island’s main town were flooded, and the rising seawater even pushed a boat onto the main road and caused several cars to slam into each other. Ferry service was cancelled until daylight because Kos’s main port was damaged, and at least one ferry en route to the port was unable to dock.
Greek officials said the quake was 6.5-magnitude. It was centred 10 kilometres south of Bodrum, Turkey, and 16 kilometres east-northeast of Kos with a depth of 10 kilometres, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
A man sleeps on the beachfront after spending the night outdoors following an earthquake in Bitez, a resort town about six kilometres west of Bodrum, Turkey. (Ayse Wieting/Associated Press)
“The instant reaction was to get ourselves out of the room,” said Christopher Hackland of Edinburgh, Scotland, who is a scuba instructor on Kos. “There was banging. There was shaking. The light was swinging, banging on the ceiling, crockery falling out of the cupboards, and pans …
“There was a lot of screaming and crying and hysterics coming from the hotel,” he said, referring to the hotel next to his apartment building. “It felt like being at a theme park with one of the illusions, an optical illusion where you feel like you’re upside down.”
Aftershocks in Turkey
According to Turkish disaster officials, the earthquake had a magnitude of 6.3, and more than 20 aftershocks have been recorded.
Turkish authorities said some 70 people were treated in hospitals in the resort of Bodrum for minor injuries, mostly sustained during panicked flight from their homes. But damage was light and they expect life will soon return to normal. With tourists continuing their holidays.
Several Greek government ministers, as well as rescuers with sniffer dogs and structural engineers traveled to Kos overnight to co-ordinate the rescue effort. The British Foreign Office warned travellers of the possibility of aftershocks, urging them to follow the advice of the local authorities.
Authorities said there were no reported injuries of refugees and migrants at camps on the island.
Esengul Civelek, governor of Turkey’s Mugla province, said there were no casualties according to initial assessments. She said “there were minor injuries due to fear and panic.”
In Bitez, a resort town about six kilometres west of Bodrum, the quake sent frightened residents running into the streets.
Hotel guests briefly returned to their rooms to pick up their belongings but chose to spend the rest of the night outside, with some using sheets and cushions borrowed from nearby lounge chairs to build makeshift beds, according to an AP reporter on the scene.
Greece and Turkey lie in an especially earthquake-prone zone.
