Very strong earthquake along the Fethiye, Turkey coast creates panic among tourists and injures +50 people
Last update: June 11, 2012 at 1:18 pm by By Armand Vervaeck and James Daniell
Earthquake overview : A very strong dangerous earthquake occurred on June 10 at 15:44 local time along the Turkey and Greece Coast and scared hundred thousands of people in tourist destinations like Dalaman, Oludeniz and Fethiye. the earthquake was also well felt in many of the Greek Islands.
: As can be seen on the seismic hazard map below, today’s earthquake does not come as a surprise. The hardest hit locations like Fethiye, Oludeniz and Dalaman are very close to an important fault zone (as well as Rhodos in Greece). Powerful earthquakes may occur up to several tens of km distance from the fault line.
Seismic hazard map including the faulting zone
Update : Based on the many reports from earthquake-report.com readers, the highest intensity (shaking) values are reported from Calis, Oludeniz and Fethiye.
Update : Awaiting further news from the epicenter area and because the epicenter looks to be closer to the coast than initially expected, we have raised the Alert status of this earthquake to RED.
Update : A reader in Oludenir reports : Standing on the beach, heard buildings rattle, people shouting then vibration that lasted around 2 seconds. Very slight rock disturbance on mountain to south of beach.
Update : Many aftershocks have been noticed so far and will continue the following hours and days. Tourists will not be sleeping well tonight, locals are more used to earthquakes but are seldom confronted with heavy earthquakes like this one.
Update : USGS has increased his Magnitude to M 5.8, but – good news – the depth was decreased to 39 km (less dangerous). USGS puts his epicenter at only 24 km Oludinez.
Update : Electricity and Mobile communications have been lost in Fethiye. Our readers are reporting heavy shaking in Damalan and Fethiye.
Update : USGS reports a M5.7 Magnitude at a depth of 20 km. 275,000 people will (according to USGS) have felt a moderate shaking. If USGS is right in his expected intensity, earthquake-report.com believes this earthquake not to generate serious damage.
The epicenter of the earthquake is only 31 km SW Fethiye, Turkey (pop 60,437)
Luckily the epicenter is below the sea floor, but the impact will still be considerable in the Turkish cities of Fethiye and Dalaman. Both cities are also Tourist destinations.
Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : Mw 5.8 to M6.0 depending on the reporting agency
UTC Time : Sunday, June 10, 2012 at 12:44:17 UTC
Local time at epicenter : Sunday, June 10, 2012 at 03:44:17 PM at epicenter
Depth (Hypocenter) : 39.6 to 43 km depending on the reporting agency
Geo-location(s) :
Approx. 25 km from Oludeniz
31 km SW Fethiye (pop 60,437)
40 km from Dalaman
63 km (39 miles) E of Rodos, Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Update 11/06 – 13:16 UTC :
– 64 people were treated in the hospitals for “jumping” injuries.
– A big rock avalanche in Fethiye was a major concern but had a happy end
– Some minor damage occurred near the epicenter area
Update : The Turkish authorities told the press that 57 people were counted as injured (52 from Fethiye and 5 from neighboring villages). They said NO tourists were among the wounded …
Update : Earthquake-report.com does thank the many ER readers who have shared their experience with the rest of Turkey, their homeland and the world. We truly appreciate it.
Update 23:55 UTC : At least 51 injured so far. All of the injured have been linked to jumping from balconies and windows. No collapsed houses but cracks have appeared in some walls. The shaking was said to last 1 minute.
As said earlier, Fethiye and Oludeniz are most hurt by this earthquake. More than 30 aftershocks have been reported.
7-8 citizens have been transferred to the hospital. They jumped off their balconies in fear. Apart from that, no damage has yet been reported.
Update 14:28 UTC : At least 15 aftershocks have been noticed so far. Turkish press talks about 7 injured people who are treated in hospitals. All of them have been jumping from their balconies! The Turkish specialized earthquake forces are currently making assessments of eventual damage, but we have no reports from them so far.
for more information and updates, go to: http://earthquake-report.com/2012/06/11/very-strong-earthquake-along-the-fethiye-turkey-coast-creates-panic-among-tourists-and-injures-50-people/