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At least 39 killed and 1 607 injured after M6.8 earthquake hits eastern Turkey

ByTeo Blašković
sivrice-elazig-turkey-earthquake-casualties-damage

Image credit:  NewZee PK (stillshot)

At least 35 people have been killed and 1 547 injured after a shallow M6.8 earthquake hit near the town of Sivrice in eastern Turkey's Elazig province at 17:55 UTC (20:55 local time) on Friday, January 24, 2020.

According to Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) report issued early January 25 (LT), 18 people died in Elazig and 4 in neighboring Malatya province. The death toll rose to 31 and the number of injured to 1 547 by the end of the day. On Sunday, January 26, Turkey's vice president said the death toll rose to 35.

AFAD said preliminary reports say the quake lasted 40 seconds. At least 530 aftershocks have been felt in the region, with 9 above M4.0 and the strongest registered at M5.4.

Initial reports suggest 76 buildings were demolished, 42 damaged and 425 with minor damages.

Overnight temperatures in the region dipped to -8 °C (17.6 °F).

Environment and Urbanization Minister Murat Kurum urged residents not to go into damaged buildings.

The province was hit by a M6.0 earthquake in 2010, claiming the lives of 51 people.

According to the USGS, the epicenter was located 5.1 km (3.1 miles) ENE of Doganyol (population 6 332), 35.3 km (29.1 miles) SE of Baskil (population 15 922), 38.3 km (23.7 miles) NW of Cemik (population 20 975), 40.1 km (24.8 miles) SSW of Elazig (population 298 004) and 59 km (36.6 miles) W of Eregani (population 52 684), Turkey.

There are 2 580 000 people living within 100 km (6.2 miles).

18 000 people are estimated to have felt very strong shaking, 481 000 strong and 1 755 000 moderate, according to the USGS.

Image credit: Google, TW/SAM

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Regional seismicity

Updates

January 27

The death toll rose to 39 and the number of injured to 1 607, early Monday morning, January 27.

According to AFAD, 17 people were killed and 654 people were injured in Elazığ. 4 people were killed and 226 people were injured in neighboring Malatya province with the main damage in the Doğanyol district.

Teo Blašković founded The Watchers in 2011 and edited it until 2026, covering seismic and volcanic activity, extreme weather, space weather and near-Earth objects. Articles on this page are his archive.

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