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Feverish search on the rubble of a destroyed house in Izmir
Photo: KEMAL ASLAN / REUTERS
A seaquake hit the Turkish province of Izmir and the Greek island of Samos on Friday.
In the Turkish city of Izmir alone, according to the disaster control agency Afad, 17 people were killed and at least 709 were injured.
The Seferisihar district south of the city was hit by a small tsunami, according to the Kandili Observatory Earthquake Research Institute.
Izmir's governor Yavuz Selim Kosger announced that more than ten houses were destroyed in the quake.
So far, at least 70 people have been rescued from the rubble, others have been buried.
According to Afad, search parties are deployed on 17 buildings.
Floods on Samos
According to media reports, two 17-year-old youths were found dead on the Greek island of Samos.
They had apparently been hit by a collapsing wall.
According to the AP news agency, another 19 people were injured.
Two seriously injured were flown to Athens for treatment.
Seven people are hospitalized on the island.
According to the Federal Foreign Office, there is so far no evidence that there could be Germans among the dead and injured in the countries.
The US earthquake monitoring station reported a magnitude 7 for the quake.
The Kandili Observatory estimates the magnitude at 6.9.
The center of the quake was therefore in the Aegean Sea off the Turkish province of Izmir, around 16 kilometers northeast of the Greek island of Samos.
The quake lasted unusually long
With around 30 seconds, the tremors lasted extraordinarily long, as the town hall of Samos announced.
The tsunami also caused floods in the island's capital, Vathy.
Greek TV channels show pictures of the flooded coastal promenade, where the water washed away cars.
Videos circulated on Twitter that the water still rose over the promenade hours after the quake.
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Flood on Samos island
Photo: Michael Svarnias / AP
The German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ) in Potsdam also reported on the "severe earthquake with a tsunami".
According to GFZ calculations, the waves reached heights of more than 1.5 meters;
they could possibly come up to three meters high on the coast.
Before that, clouds of dust had risen over Samos.
Several buildings were damaged, reported the Greek state television.
Tremors as far as Athens and Istanbul
According to various reports, the quake, which according to the Anadolu news agency occurred at 2:51 p.m. local time, was felt in the Turkish metropolis of Istanbul and as far as the Greek capital Athens.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed the population in a tweet.
Help the people affected by the earthquake by all means, he wrote.
Erdoğan also phoned Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
They said they had exchanged mutual wishes for a quick recovery.
EU Council President Charles Michel also offered help to Turkey and Greece.
"My thoughts are with everyone who is affected," wrote Michel on Twitter on Friday.
"The EU stands ready to provide support."
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also offered help.
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fek / dpa / AP
