Turkey: 1,230 aftershocks follow 6.6-magnitude quake

By Muhammed Boztepe

ANKARA (AA) - Some 1,230 aftershocks shook western Turkey over roughly three days since a powerful earthquake rocked the region, the country's disaster agency said Monday.

The follow-up tremors had magnitudes between 1.0 and 5.1, said the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) in a preliminary report on the quake Friday that lasted over 15 seconds.

Major urban centers in Turkey, including the Aegean province of Izmir, were close to the earthquake's epicenter 17.26 km (10.7 mi) off the Seferihisar district of Izmir province at a depth of 16.54 km (10 mi).

The death toll from the quake, which occurred at 2.51 p.m. local time (1151GMT), has reached 85. So far, 106 people have been pulled out of the debris as search and rescue activities continue.

Meanwhile, 994 people were injured, with 774 discharged from hospitals and 220 people still under treatment.

The report indicated that the earthquake occurred on the roughly 30-km (18.6 mi) Samos Fault, bounding the nearby Samos Island from the north.

Turkey is among the world's most seismically active zones as it is situated on several active fault lines. It has suffered devastating earthquakes in the past as well.