VIDEO: People hit streets after earthquakes in western Turkey

ÇANAKKALE - Doğan News Agency

DHA photo

The northwestern province of Çanakkale’s Eceabat district was struck by three small earthquakes in quick succession early July 24, causing worry among residents.

The three temblors, measuring 4.8, 4.4, 3.3 respectively in magnitude, began at 5:39 a.m. Turkish time.

The earthquakes, which occurred 11.6 kilometers beneath the earth’s surface, according to the Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, did not cause any loss of life or property, but a number of residents in Çanakkale hit the streets out of fear that buildings could collapse.

Several people spent the night in tents while others rushed to outdoor tea houses, as they did not want to enter their houses. 

Professor Övgün Ahmet Ercan from Istanbul Technical University’s (İTÜ) Mining Faculty’s Geophysics Department said the quake could be regarded as the release of accumulated tension in the Tekirdağ route of the fault line. 

He said there was light damage to houses which were not built in line with earthquake laws but added none of the buildings had been destroyed in the city.