7.0-Magnitude Earthquake Strikes In Aegean Sea, 4 Dead In Turkey

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A strong earthquake shook parts of Turkey and Greece on Friday, after striking north of the Greek island of Samos.

USGS / Screenshot by NPR

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USGS / Screenshot by NPR

A strong earthquake shook parts of Turkey and Greece on Friday, after striking north of the Greek island of Samos.

USGS / Screenshot by NPR

Emergency crews in Turkey and Greece are working to help people caught by a powerful earthquake that struck off the shore of a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea Friday. The quake registered a magnitude of 7.0, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The earthquake’s worst effects are being reported in nearby Turkey, where officials say four people are dead and at least 12 buildings destroyed or damaged in the city of Izmir.

One person died by drowning, according to Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority. At least 152 more people were injured, the agency says, adding that search and rescue crews are still trying to reach anyone who might be trapped or injured.

The strong quake struck north of Néon Karlovásion, a town on the Greek island of Samos. At least eight people were injured there, according to Greek state-run broadcaster ERT. But it also reports that two students were hurt when a wall collapsed on them along a narrow street — and while the pair’s condition is not yet confirmed, they are feared dead.

The earthquake crumbled old buildings on the island; it also triggered a wall of seawater that flooded stores and swept cars away, ERT reports.

The quake shook a broad section of western Turkey – particularly Izmir, where hundreds of thousands of people live some 40 miles from the quake’s epicenter.

Friday’s earthquake is an «intraplate event,» the USGS says, resulting from the Africa plate grinding along the Eurasia tectonic plate. The earthquake, which hit roughly 155 miles north of the main boundary between those plates, is largely consistent with earlier temblors in the region, the agency said.

«While commonly plotted as points on maps, earthquakes of this size are more appropriately described as slip over a larger fault area,» the USGS says. It adds that a 7.0 magnitude quake would normally have a fault area of 50 x 20 km — about 31 x 12 miles.

Each year, the Africa plate moves northward around 10 mm (around .40 inches), the agency says.