A 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck Türkiye’s Balıkesir Province in the country’s northwest on Sunday, August 10, killing one person and injuring 29 others. Turkish authorities said the quake also caused the destruction of several buildings.
The epicenter was in the city of Sındırgı, and tremors were felt up to 200 kilometers away in Istanbul.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya told reporters that an elderly woman died shortly after being rescued alive from under the rubble. He added that 16 buildings collapsed, most of them abandoned or unused, and that two mosque minarets also fell.
Yerlikaya said the injured are in relatively good condition, with none in critical state.
Türkiye’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority reported several aftershocks, including one measuring 4.6, and urged residents to avoid entering damaged buildings.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan wrote on X: “May God protect our country from all kinds of disasters.”
Türkiye sits on major fault lines, making earthquakes frequent. In 2023, a 7.8-magnitude quake killed more than 53,000 people and damaged or destroyed hundreds of thousands of buildings across 11 provinces.
