Turkey and Greece earthquake latest: Girl, 14, died after ‘intense fear prompted panic attack’
Teenager known for ‘diligence and cheerfulness’ could not be saved; 69 others injured in panic after quake
A 14-year-old girl who died in a 5.8-magnitude earthquake that shook western Turkey and the Greek islands suffered a panic attack and could not be saved in hospital, a Turkish minister said on Wednesday.
Interior minister Ali Yerlikaya said that Afra Nur Günlü died “despite all interventions” in hospital in Fethiye, where she lived.
A local website said the teenager, known for her diligence and cheerfulness, experienced intense fear, which prompted the panic attack.
Some 69 others were injured as they jumped from buildings in the Turkish resort Marmaris, near the epicentre of Tuesday morning's quake.
A British family said the jolts felt like “bombs landing”.
Matthew McCormick, a father of two from Belfast who was holidaying in Rhodes, said: "My gut feeling was either there's been bombs landing somewhere or it's an earthquake.”
Heavy shaking was felt in Rhodes 29km to the south, as well as on other islands around the Aegean Sea, during the quake, shortly after 2am on Tuesday morning.
Turkey earthquake: Is it safe to travel to Turkey and Rhodes? Simon Calder explains all
UK tourist in Rhodes says intense earthquake felt like 'bombs landing'
Matthew McCormick, a father of two from Belfast, described the moments when the magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck, saying he initially thought it was a bombing when he first woke up.
Mr McCormick, who was holidaying in Rhodes island, said: "My gut feeling was either there's been bombs landing somewhere or it's an earthquake.”
He told PA news agency that his wife and children had just fallen asleep when they heard a “loud rumbling noise”.
"And then the next minute, the whole hotel was just shaking,” he said.
"It was very surreal, it woke me and my wife up and my first concern was for the four-year-old beside us.
"She woke up and she started to cry."She was terrified - I think for us at that point, it was just trying to make sure she was OK.
"I tried to have a look at the roof, and it didn't look like there were any cracks or anything appearing in the roof.
"I figured that we were safe enough."
Turkish woman recounts moment earthquake shattered her home
An unidentified woman who lives in Armutalan in Turkey, about 13 miles from the epicentre, recounted the moment the earthquake severely damaged her home.
“I was asleep in bed with my daughter, the whole bed started shaking, the lights were flashing on and off, glass smashed,” she told The Daily Express.
She said that the plaster from the walls was torn and she saw “big cracks” as she was left “petrified”.
The woman said the earthquake “went on for a very long time and was very strong”.
No major damage reported after earthquake
No major damage has been reported in Turkey or Rhodes after a 5.8 magnitude earthquake caused panic among residents, with some people jumping out of buildings.
The quake struck about 29km north of Rhodes, the largest of the Dodecanese islands near the Turkey border, at around 2.17am local time on Tuesday at a depth of 68km, according to the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre.
At least one person, a teenage girl, died in an earthquake-related incident, and 69 others were injured as they attempted to jump off the buildings.
Turkish interior minister Ali Yerlikaya said on X that a 14-year-old girl was taken to the hospital and died there after what he said was an anxiety attack.
Earthquakes have caused major panic among residents, with some even jumping off buildings to save themselves – a fear intensified since the 2023 earthquake that killed thousands in Turkey and Syria.
At least 53,000 people were killed in a 7.8-magnitude earthquake on 6 February 2023 followed by a second powerful tremor.
The earthquakes destroyed scores of buildings and roads in 11 southern and southeastern provinces. The same incident killed 6,000 people in neighbouring Syria.
Earthquake's 'main characteristic was its depth', says expert
A Greek earthquake expert has said that the “main characteristic” of the quake that struck Turkey and the Greek islands was its depth.
Professor Efthymios Lekkas, president of the Greek Earthquake Planning and Protection Organisation, told Travel Weekly: “This depth allows us to say that although it was felt in a wider area of the Dodecanese and Turkey, it will not have significant effects on the surface; there will be no tsunami and, above all, there will be no rich aftershock sequence.”
Is it safe to travel to Turkey or Rhodes after major earthquake injures dozens?
Holidaymakers in southwest Turkey and neighbouring islands in Greece were shaken awake this morning by a strong earthquake.
In the early hours of Tuesday, a 5.8-magnitude quake struck just south of the Turkish resort of Marmaris. Tremors were also felt across the water on the Greek island of Rhodes.
Flights to and from Dalaman Airport are operating as usual, and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is not advising against travel to the area.
But is it safe to go, and what are your rights if you have a trip booked? Here’s everything we know.
Is it safe to travel to Turkey or Rhodes after major earthquake injures dozens?
Recap: Where did the earthquake hit?
The epicentre of the 5.8 magnitude earthquake was just outside the Turkish resort town of Marmaris.
The earthquake hit at 2.17am local time on Tuesday at a depth of 68km (42 miles).
Heavy shaking was felt in Rhodes, just 29km to the south, as well as on other islands around the Aegean Sea
.A total of 282 emergency reports were made to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) about the earthquake in Marmaris.
Turkish authorities said a 14-year-old girl died in an earthquake-related incident and 69 others were injured, mostly amid scenes of panic as the quake struck.
Residents and officials in the affected region have described varying degrees of minor damage, including cracks appearing in homes and small leaks, but the earthquake otherwise caused no major destruction.
Moment 5.8-magnitude quake rocks popular Rhodes hotel
Why do earthquakes happen?
The British Geological Survey (BGS) explains that earthquakes like the 2023 Turkey earthquake, which so often have devastating consequences, are the result of “sudden movement along faults within the earth”.
The outermost layer of the earth’s structure, known as the lithosphere, consists of 15 giant tectonic plates the size of continents, which move constantly in relation to one another, drifting apart, coming together or sliding past.
Beneath the lithosphere lies the asthenosphere, which behaves like an extremely slow-moving liquid over time, meaning the plates above it never sit entirely stationary.
The BGS explains that there are three main possible drivers behind the movement of tectonic plates: warm mantle convection currents carrying them “like a conveyor belt”, oceanic ridge push causing one warmer plate to shove against and rise above another, and slab pull, which occurs when one older, colder plate sinks beneath another.
Even just a few centimetres of movement a year is enough to cause significant deformation along the boundaries of these plates, which – according to geologist Henry Fielding Reid’s “elastic rebound theory”, developed in response to the notorious San Francisco quake of 1906 – will eventually exceed the frictional force holding the rocks together, causing sudden slips to occur along a fault line.
This event releases the built up pressure or “elastic strain” energy as seismic waves, which shudder through the earth and cause the ground to shake at surface level.
Earthquake in Turkey in 2023 killed more than 53,000
Turkey experienced one of the most severe earthquakes in recent memory in 2023, when a magnitude 7.8 quake killed more than 53,000 people.
The earthquake destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of buildings in 11 southern and southeastern provinces in the country.
Around 6,000 people died in northern areas of neighbouring Syria.
Turkey lies close to the meeting point of the Eurasian and Arabian tectonic plates, placing it on the frontline of potential seismic activity.
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