A magnitude-6.9 earthquake rattled Greece and Turkey Saturday, damaging structures and injuring at least 266 people in Turkey alone. The quake struck at 12:25 local time in the Aegean Sea, with the epicenter located just southwest of the Greek island of Samothraki, 185 miles northeast of Athens,according to the USGS.
The quake caused 266 injuries in Turkey, including one person who was in serious condition, according to the government’s emergency and disaster management agency. The injuries were mostly the result of panic, caused as people tried to rush out of buildings.
The Institute of Geophysics at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki said the magnitude of the quake was 6.3. The U.S. Geological Survey initially reported a magnitude of 6.4, later revised to 6.9.
The temblor was widely felt, including in Thessaloniki, the west coast of Turkey and as far away as Bulgaria and Istanbul. Turkey’s emergency and disaster management agency said there were close to 70 aftershocks, the strongest measuring 5.5.
The quake damaged some buildings in the province, including two mosques, but there were no reports of any structures collapsing.
Also in Canakkale, patients were evacuated from a state hospital whose walls cracked. Authorities were setting up a field hospital to take care of patients, the Dogan news agency reported.
A duty officer at the Lemnos police precinct said a female British tourist was slightly injured at the airport when part of the ceiling fell. She was treated at the scene and did not require hospitalization. No other damage or injuries had been reported.
There were divergences as to the quake’s depth. The USGS reported a depth of 6 miles, but the Athens Geodynamics Institute has reported 17 miles.
