At least one person has died and dozens have been injured in a 5.6-magnitude earthquake that struck Turkey’s Malatya province today, causing buildings to collapse, the disaster management agency (Afad) said.

“Unfortunately, one of our fellow citizens died, 69 wounded were taken to hospitals,” head of the service Yunus Sezer said at a press conference.

As a result of today’s tremor, about 30 buildings collapsed.

#Malatya destruction of the center pic.twitter.com/rsQ4kdP5vM

— Malatya (@bizmalatyaliyiz) February 27, 2023

The mayor of the city of Gezilyurt, which is close to the epicenter, told Habertürk TV that the father and daughter, who were trying to collect personal belongings from their home, were buried under the rubble of one of the collapsed buildings.

“Buildings collapsed and search and rescue teams arrived on the scene,” Afad tweeted.

#MalatyaThe collapse of the Istanbul AVM after the earthquake.#Deprem pic.twitter.com/xto366JjaX

— MALATYA (@dort4luksehir) February 27, 2023

The earthquake occurred at 12.04 local time. The province of Malatya was hit by a devastating earthquake on February 6, which killed 44,374 people, according to official estimates. The 7.8 magnitude earthquake destroyed 170,000 buildings in 11 Turkish provinces and also affected neighboring Syria.

About 10,000 aftershocks have been recorded in Turkey since February 6, according to Afad.

#Malatya‘da bir çok agır hasarlı bina sepremde razedı. #Deprem pic.twitter.com/wrwPIXBzfh

— MALATYA (@dort4luksehir) February 27, 2023

Istanbul: a strong earthquake is possible in the near future

At the same time destructive earthquakes in the southeast Turkey had the effect of highlighting the problem insufficient preparation for a major earthquake in Istanbul, andwhich, according to scientists, may happen in the near future.

Since 1999, seismologists have warned that the city is at risk of a major earthquake due to conditions that have formed under the Sea of ​​Marmara on the western side of the North Anatolia Fault.

Scientific studies after the 1999 earthquakes indicate a 62 percent chance of a major earthquake in Istanbul within 30 years.

Gurkan Akgun, head of the urban planning department of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, said that the total number of buildings in the city had increased to 1,020,000 by 2022. 73% of them were built before 1999 and accommodate about 10 million people.

Akgun estimates that around 90,000 buildings will collapse or be severely damaged by a major earthquake. It is estimated that 5 million people will be directly affected.

According to APE