Turkey's 6.1 Magnitude Earthquake Claims Life and Damages Buildings in Balikesir Province

A magnitude 6.1 earthquake hit Balikesir on Sunday evening, resulting in at least one death and numerous injuries.

A magnitude 6.1 earthquake shook Turkey's north-west Balikesir province on Sunday evening, causing significant destruction and distress. An 81-year-old woman tragically lost her life after being rescued from the debris in the town of Sindirgi, which was the quake's epicenter, according to Turkey's interior minister, Ali Yerlikaya.

The earthquake struck at approximately 19:53 local time (16:53 GMT), with its tremors felt as far away as Istanbul. The disaster resulted in the collapse of sixteen buildings, leaving 29 individuals injured. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan conveyed his condolences and expressed hope for a swift recovery for those affected, stating that all recovery efforts would be closely monitored. "May God protect our country from any kind of disaster," he wrote on social media platform X.

Search and rescue operations have concluded, with interior minister Yerlikaya reporting no further serious damage or casualties. However, images from the affected area depict significant devastation, with large structures reduced to rubble and heaps of twisted metal littering the streets.

Turkey lies at the convergence of three major tectonic plates and is prone to frequent seismic events. The country experienced a catastrophic earthquake in February 2023 that resulted in over 50,000 fatalities in the southeastern region, along with an additional 5,000 deaths in neighboring Syria. Even now, more than two years later, hundreds of thousands of individuals remain displaced from that disaster.