ISTANBUL (Reuters)
- An earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale rocked towns
across western Turkey on Friday, but there were no immediate reports
of any casualties, local officials told Reuters.
Anatolian
news agency cited the country's main seismological measuring station
as saying the quake measured 5.8.
Its epicenter
was near the town of Afyon but the shock was felt in scores of
towns in south and western Turkey.
A police official
in Afyon told Reuters there had been no immediate reports of major
damage or casualties.
``The first
indications are that no one has been killed or badly hurt, and
that there is no serious damage,'' he said.
An official
at a crisis coordination center in the town of Eskisehir said,
``There are no deaths. We're just getting started with the fieldwork,
but it looks like there isn't any real damage to speak of in this
region.''
Residents
spoke of a lengthy tremor that shook objects from shelves and
sent many rushing for the safety of open ground.
``I was sitting
on the sofa and I couldn't work out what was happening. The doors
were slamming and everything was crashing and banging. It really
lasted,'' said a resident of the city of Konya.
``I went out
onto the balcony. Everyone was out in the street. Thank God the
power and electricity weren't cut. There's no damage around here
but who knows about other places,'' she said.
Two major
quakes in western Turkey killed more than 17,000 people in 1999.
The commercial capital and largest city, Istanbul, is situated
near a large fault line.
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