An earthquake has killed at least 19 people and injured 700 in Turkey and on the Greek island of Samos.
The two people killed by the magnitude 7 quake on Samos were a teenage boy and girl found near a collapsed wall.
The epicentre of the tremor was in the Aegean Sea, 11 miles (17 km) off the coast of Turkey’s Izmir province, at a depth of 10 miles (16km).
The Turkish government’s disaster agency reported a lower magnitude of 6.6 for the quake while Greece’s seismological agency said it measured 6.7.
Images from Izmir showed collapsed buildings and dazed people trying to make their way through rubbled piled high on the streets.
“So far, we have received information about six collapsed buildings” in Izmir province, which incudes the city, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on Twitter.
“Some of our fellow citizens are stuck in the rubble,” said Environment Minister Murat Kurum, adding that he knew of five collapsed buildings.
A total of 196 aftershocks have been recorded, 23 of which were over 4.0 magnitude, the agency added.
Search and rescue operations continue in 17 buildings, four of which have collapsed, said Murat Kurum, Turkey’s Environment and Urbanization Minister.
Greece and Turkey are located in one of the world’s most active earthquake zones. In 1999, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 magnitude shook Turkey’s northwest. More than 17,000 people, including 1,000 in Istanbul have been killed. In 2011, another earthquake occured in the southeastern province of Van, resulted in over 600 deaths.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis tweeted condolences, saying “Words are too poor to describe what one feels before the loss of children.”
Former US Vice-President Joe Biden also, tweeted: “Jill and I send our prayers to the people of Greece and Turkey following today’s earthquake. We’re grateful for the brave rescuers saving others, and for the governments of Greece and Turkey putting aside their differences to support each other.”
