The earth shook in Türkiye. Several provinces in the east of the country were shaken by a 5.9 magnitude earthquake on Wednesday, authorities announced. “For the moment, there has been no loss of human life,” the public disaster management agency (Afad) wrote on X.
“Three buildings were damaged” and “four people in a partially damaged building were rescued alive,” states Afad in a second bulletin, which says it is following developments in the situation closely.
The earthquake occurred at 10:46 a.m. (07:46 GMT) in Kale district, Malatya province. It is one of the provinces devastated by the violent 7.8 magnitude earthquake of February 6, 2023, which left more than 53,500 dead in Turkey and nearly 6,000 in neighboring Syria.
The Malatya Municipality also indicated that there were no “negative developments” at this stage. Primary and secondary schools were, however, closed on Wednesday in Malatya, announced provincial governor Seddar Yavuz.
The tremor was felt very strongly in several large towns in the region, including Diyarbarkir, some 140 km from the epicenter, according to AFP correspondents on site.
Residents of these large cities immediately rushed outside their buildings, according to images broadcast by Turkish television channels.
