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Powerful earthquake rocks Turkey, killing 1 and destroying multiple buildings


The strong earthquake in northwestern Turkey's Balikesir province was felt in multiple provinces, including the country's biggest city, Istanbul.

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One person was killed on Aug. 10 when an earthquake of magnitude 6.1 struck northwestern Turkey's Balikesir province, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said, adding 29 people were wounded and 16 buildings collapsed.

The quake, which Turkey's AFAD disaster management authority said occurred at around 7:53 p.m., was felt in multiple provinces, including the country's biggest city, Istanbul. Yerlikaya said an 81-year-old person died after being rescued from rubble by emergency teams.

He said search and rescue operations were now concluded and that there were no other signs of serious damage or casualties.

AFAD said the quake struck at a depth of 6.8 miles, while the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) registered the earthquake's magnitude at 6.19 and a depth of 6.2 miles.

(Reporting by Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru and Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne, Hugh Lawson and Cynthia Osterman)