Earthquake rattles Çanakkale province

ÇANAKKALE

A 4.3 magnitude earthquake has rattled the Marmara province of Çanakkale, Türkiye’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) has announced.

The quake struck 12.2 kilometers (7.5 miles) below the surface in Çanakkale’s Biga district on Dec. 13 at around 6:20 a.m., AFAD said.

There was no loss of life or property, the governor’s office said in a written statement.

Türkiye is crossed by fault lines and is prone to earthquakes.

In 1999, a 7.4 magnitude tremor hit the industrial province of Kocaeli, leaving nearly 18,000 people dead and around 45,000 others injured.

Nearly 16 million people were affected, with around 200,000 people becoming homeless.

The same year, another earthquake rattled the Black Sea province of Düzce on Nov. 12 at 6:57 p.m. local time with a magnitude of 7.2, causing damage and at least 845 fatalities.

The epicenter was approximately 100 kilometers (62 miles) to the east of the Kocaeli earthquake that happened a few months earlier.

Last October, a powerful 6.6 magnitude earthquake struck İzmir, the country’s third-largest city, killing at least 115 people and injuring over 1,000 others.