A magnitude-5.9 earthquake hit a city in northwestern Turkey early Wednesday, inflicting harm to some buildings and widespread panic. Not less than 68 folks had been injured, principally whereas attempting to flee properties. The quake was centered within the city of Golkaya, in Duzce province, some 200 kilometers (125 miles) east of Istanbul, the Catastrophe and Emergency Administration Presidency mentioned.

It struck at 4:08 a.m. (0108 GMT) and was felt in Istanbul, within the capital Ankara and different elements of the area. Dozens of aftershocks had been reported, together with one with a magnitude of 4.3. The quake woke folks from their sleep and lots of rushed out of buildings in panic within the province that skilled a lethal earthquake 23 years in the past.

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Not less than 68 folks had been handled in hospitals for accidents in Duzce and close by areas, principally sustained in the course of the panic, together with from leaping from balconies or home windows. A 28-year-old Afghan was in severe situation after struggling a mind hemorrhage, Well being Minister Fahrettin Koca mentioned.

Colleges within the area had been closed as a precaution.

“Though the earthquake induced harm to many buildings in Golkaya, luckily, we didn’t expertise any severe destruction or loss,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan mentioned in an handle to his ruling celebration’s legislators.

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The quake demolished the outside cladding and elements of the roof of a courthouse in Duzce, HaberTurk tv reported. Amongst different harm, a two-story store collapsed on a slender avenue, it mentioned. A mosque within the village of Saridere, close to the epicenter, additionally sustained harm and was closed down, the state-run Anadolu Company reported.

Many individuals had been tenting open air too afraid to return to their properties. Like most different Duzce residents, Sebahattin Ozturk, 64, was asleep when the quake struck. “There have been quite a lot of appears like explosions after which my spouse began shouting,” he informed The Related Press. “Bottles and flowerpots fell over and the doorways of our wardrobes slammed.”

To Ahmet Cevat Algun, it was a daunting reminder of the quake that struck in 1999. “I assume it took 40-45 seconds, just like the 1999 earthquake,” Algun mentioned. “We had been so afraid we didn’t know what to do. We went by way of the identical factor once more.”

Round 800 folks had been killed within the highly effective earthquake that hit Duzce on Nov. 12, 1999. In August of that yr, 17,000 folks had been killed by one other highly effective temblor that devastated close by Kocaeli province and different elements of northwest Turkey.

Officers mentioned round 80% of the buildings within the space had been rebuilt or fortified following the 1999 earthquakes, which helped decrease harm.

Turkey sits on prime of main fault strains and is incessantly shaken by earthquakes.