BALIKESİR
Panic has swept across western Türkiye late on Oct. 27 as a 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck Balıkesir’s Sındırgı district, the second equally strong quake in just two months in a region already shaken by more than 10,000 aftershocks.
The quake was felt across a wide area, including Istanbul, İzmir and other cities in the Marmara and Aegean regions.
Authorities said three previously condemned buildings and a two-story shop had collapsed in Sındırgı’s town center, but no fatalities were reported.
Twenty-two people were injured while fleeing in panic, but all have since been discharged from hospital, local media reported.
Türkiye’s disaster response plan had been activated immediately, with rescue and damage assessment teams dispatched to the region.
“We have received 504 reports so far, including 25 cases of structural damage,” Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said, adding that all were being reviewed.
Local authorities ordered schools closed for a day across Balıkesir and the neighboring province of Manisa followed suit in six districts.
As aftershocks continued through the night, many residents in Sındırgı chose not to return home, fearing further collapses. Families set up tents in parks and open fields, while others slept in their cars.
Earth scientists voiced deep concern that the repeated tremors in the region could signal a prolonged seismic sequence.
Since the first 6.1-magnitude quake struck Sındırgı on Aug. 10, nearly 12,000 smaller quakes have been recorded, forming what researchers call a “seismic storm.”
Professor Dr. Hasan Sözbilir, head of a quake research center at Dokuz Eylül University, said the latest event likely triggered newly mapped faults that were identified after the August quake.
“These faults are linked to geothermal fluids and may continue producing aftershocks of up to magnitude 5. We could be witnessing a full-scale earthquake storm,” he warned.
Renowned geologist Professor Dr. Okan Tüysüz compared the energy released in the latest 6.1 magnitude quake to that of the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki.
“The 6.1 quake is roughly equivalent in energy to the Nagasaki explosion. Thousands of aftershocks have already occurred since August, and the seismic activity will likely persist for some time.”
Professor Dr. Övgün Ahmet Ercan, a prominent geophysicist, said earlier quakes had already weakened local structures.
“The threshold for collapse has dropped because buildings were fatigued by previous tremors,” he said, predicting aftershocks could continue for another two to three months.
