Earthquake Shakes Turkish Capital
Pastor Dale Morgan
Earthquake Shakes Turkish Capital*
The Associated Press
Thursday, December 20, 2007; 6:43 AM
ANKARA, Turkey -- A moderate earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of
5.7 shook the capital of Ankara on Thursday, a Turkish seismology center
said. There were no immediate reports of injuries, but the quake brought
down a minaret of a village mosque.
The earthquake, which struck at the start of the Muslim Eid al-Adha
festival, lasted for a few minutes, and caused apartment buildings and
furniture to sway and chandeliers to fall.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake had a magnitude of 5.3.
The Istanbul-based Kandilli seismology center said the epicenter of the
quake was the town of Bala, some 50 miles south of Ankara. Two
aftershocks, the strongest measuring 4.0, followed the temblor. There
were two smaller quakes, measuring 3.9 and 4.0, earlier in the day.
The quake demolished an abandoned house in the village of Sirapinar,
near Bala, and caused some damage to about a dozen homes and barns, said
Muhammed Yildirim, a local official.
Most of the villagers were outdoors sacrificing sheep for the Muslim
festival and were not in any danger, Yildirim said.
In the nearby Yeniyapan village, the mosque's minaret tumbled down from
the force of the jolt and some homes were also damaged in the village of
Avsar, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported.
Gov. Kemal Onal said there were no immediate reports of any casualties
in the quake.
"Emergency services have left for Bala to assess possible damage in the
villages," Onal said.
Earthquakes are frequent in Turkey, much of which lies atop the active
North Anatolian fault, though they are rare in the capital.
Two devastating earthquakes killed about 18,000 people in northwestern
Turkey in 1999. In 2003, a school dormitory collapsed following a
6.4-magnitude earthquake in Bingol, in southeast Turkey, killing 83
children.