Officials in Turkey say at least four people are dead in western Izmir province following a powerful earthquake that struck Friday along the Turkish coast and the Greek island of Samos. From his Twitter account, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca reported that four people were killed in Izmir and 120 were injured. He said 38 ambulances, two ambulance helicopters and 35 medical rescue teams were working in the province. The European-Mediterranean Seismological Center said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.9 with an epicenter 13 kilometers north-northeast of Samos and 32 kilometers off the coast of Turkey. The United States Geological Survey put the magnitude at 7.0. It is common for preliminary magnitudes to differ in the early hours and days after a quake. Multiple aftershocks struck the region. Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency said three injured people were pulled from the wreckage of a building in Izmir. Izmir mayor Tunc Soyer told CNN Turk that about 20 buildings collapsed. The city is the third largest in Turkey with about 4.5 million residents. Turkey’s interior minister said there were small cracks in some buildings in six other provinces.Some damage also was reported to buildings and roads on Samos, an island in the eastern Aegean Sea. The director of the hospital in Samos said four people were treated there for light injuries.Greek public television said the quake also caused a mini-tsunami on Samos, damaging buildings. Video taken at the scene showed boats pushed up onto city streets. Media reports say the quake was felt as far away as Britain and Bulgaria.
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