Kurdistan PM expresses condolences after quake hits Greek coast, Turkey
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani expressed on Friday his sympathies to the victims and their families of the earthquake that struck the Aegean sea between Turkey and the Greek Island of Samos.
“I offer our condolences to everyone affected by the devastating earthquake in the Aegean Sea today and pray for a swift recovery of those injured,” Prime Minister Barzani said in a tweet.
“We stand in solidarity with the people of Turkey and Greece during this difficult time.”
I offer our condolences to everyone affected by the devastating earthquake in the Aegean Sea today and pray for a swift recovery of those injured.
— Masrour Barzani پابەندین# (@masrour_barzani) October 30, 2020
We stand in solidarity with the people of Turkey and Greece during this difficult time -mb.
The incident occurred early Friday, with residents of the Turkish city of Izmir feeling strong tremors that collapsed several buildings, killing at least 17 people, according to AFP. Izmir is on the Aegean coast.
Seawater flooded the city’s streets as the earthquake raised tidal waves, described by local officials as “a small tsunami.”
The Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Department said that a 6.6-magnitude earthquake shook the country’s coast overlooking the Aegean Sea. The US Seismological Center reported that the strength of the quake was 7.0.
Along with the deaths, Turkish authorities have reported at least 152 people have been wounded.
The Governor of Izmir said that the earthquake had destroyed about 20 buildings in the province.
About 75 kilometers southward on Greece’s Samos Island, a collapsing wall fell on and killed two teenagers. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis tweeted condolences, saying, “Words are too poor to describe what one feels before the loss of children,” AFP reported.
Editing by Khrush Najari