Dozens in hospital after 6.0 quake hits near Turkish resort

ANKARA—A strong earthquake hit off the southwest coast of Turkey Sunday near a popular tourist resort, putting dozens of people in hospital, including some who jumped from buildings in panic, officials said.

The 6.0 magnitude quake struck off Oludeniz, a small Aegean Sea holiday resort near the city of Fethiye which is popular particularly with Britons.

No-one was killed, according to the national disaster management center, but provincial health director Cihan Tekin said 59 people were hospitalized, most for psychological trauma.

“From the information we’ve gathered, 59 Turkish citizens are in hospital after the earthquake, including 54 in Fethiye,” Tekin was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency.

One person suffered a severe head injury jumping from a window out of fright, Tekin said, adding that two people suffered heart attacks.

“Some people were admitted to hospital for fractures and cuts. But most were admitted for psychological trauma,” he said.

Tekin had earlier put the number of injured at six to seven people, saying: “They jumped in panic from balconies or windows.”

Oludeniz mayor Keramettin Yilmaz told the private NTV television network that the quake also caused material damage but no details were immediately available.

Oludeniz, a resort popular with British tourists, looks out at the brilliant turquoise waters of the Aegean Sea.

Turkey is crossed by several fault lines.

A powerful quake shook eastern Turkey on October 23 last year, killing more than 600 people. It was followed on November 12 by a 5.6-magnitude tremor that killed another 40 people in the same area.

In 1999, two strong quakes in heavily populated and industrialized parts of northwest Turkey killed 20,000 people.