5.2-magnitude quake hits off Antalya coast

ANTALYA

An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.2 hit the southern Antalya province at around 9:21 a.m. local time on Sept. 12, with no casualties or serious material damages reported.

The epicenter of the earthquake took place 65 kilometers off the coast of Kumluca district at a depth of 40 kilometers, state-run Anadolu Agency has said, citing the information on the website of the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency of Turkey (AFAD).

Antalya AFAD President Fevzi Timur said on Sept. 12 that no “unfortunate incident” had occurred due to the earthquake. “We have spoken with the district governor, police and gendarmerie; for now, there seems to be no problem. Since the epicenter of the quake was in the sea, the land was not affected very much,” Timur was quoted as saying by Anadolu Agency.

The 5.2 magnitude earthquake comes one day after another earthquake with a magnitude of 4.8, which struck the Döşemealtı district. The Antalya branch of the Chamber of Geophysical Engineers of Turkey (CGET) said there was a high probability the Sept. 11 dated earthquake had “triggered” the more recent earthquake.

“Quakes are continuously happening in Antalya. There are active and passive fault lines in Antalya. Occasionally, earthquakes trigger one another along these fault lines. And the most recent earthquakes are proof of this situation,” Engin Erarslan, the president of the Antalya branch of CGET, was quoted as saying by Demirören News Agency on Sept. 12.

“We are waiting for new earthquakes after these two earthquakes. But they will have smaller magnitudes,” Erarslan said.