A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck Turkey’s north-western Balikesir province on Sunday evening, killing one person and flattening multiple buildings.
Authorities confirmed that an 81-year-old woman died shortly after being rescued from the rubble in Sindirgi, the quake’s epicentre. According to Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, 16 buildings collapsed and 29 people were injured in the tremors, which were felt as far away as Istanbul.
The quake occurred at 19:53 local time (16:53 GMT), Turkey’s disaster management agency reported. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan offered condolences and vowed that recovery efforts would be closely monitored, writing on X: “May God protect our country from any kind of disaster.”
Search and rescue operations have now ended, with no further casualties or major damage reported. Still, images from Sindirgi reveal scenes of devastation, with entire buildings reduced to rubble and mangled steel.
Situated at the meeting point of three major tectonic plates, Turkey is prone to frequent earthquakes. In February 2023, a 7.8 magnitude quake in the southeast killed more than 50,000 people in Turkey and 5,000 in neighbouring Syria — leaving hundreds of thousands displaced more than two years later.
