Erdogan observes 20th anniversary of Marmara earthquake

By Faruk Zorlu

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's president on Saturday observed the 20th anniversary of earthquake in the country's Marmara region, which claimed some 17,000 lives.

"I wish Allah's mercy upon our citizens who lost their lives in the Marmara Earthquake", Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a Twitter message.

Erdogan said his country will continue to take all necessary measures to ensure that the losses caused by the disaster will never happen again.

According to a 2010 parliamentary investigation commission report, 17,480 people died and around 45,000 were injured in the Aug. 17, 1999 earthquake.

The earthquake had caused the sixth largest economic loss as compared to other quakes during the period between 1900 and 2009, with an estimated loss of $20 billion, according to the Emergency Events Database’s website.