(ETH) – The powerful magnitude earthquake that was originally registered as a 7.0 but later downgraded to a 6.6 by the USGS that struck in the Aegean Sea between the Turkish coast and the Greek island of Samos on Friday has claimed the lives of at least 28 people and has injured over 885 amid collapsed buildings and flooding, according to a new report this morning from the Associated Press.
The powerful quake was reportedly felt across the eastern Greek islands and as far as the Greek capital, of Athens, and in Bulgaria. Meanwhile, in Turkey, it shook the regions of Aegean and Marmara, including Istanbul. The quake also produced a small tsunami that struck the Seferihisar district south of Izmir, which is the city in western Turkey that was the greatest impacted by the earthquake, according to Haluk Ozener, the director of the Istanbul-based Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute.
The small tsunami that struck the Turkish coast also was said to have impacted Samos, with seawater flooding streets in the main harbor town of Vathi where authorities warned people to stay away from the coast and from potentially damaged buildings. The report also states that at least 70 people have been rescued from collapsed buildings, with four destroyed and more than 10 collapsed. Other buildings suffered less severe damage, but no exact number has been released.
Search-and-rescue efforts have continued in at least 17 buildings, where Turkish media shows rescuers pulling people from the rubble, including one survivor who was found about six hours after the quake. Emergency teams have continued digging through the rubble and debris after nightfall and cranes lifted concrete slabs from the wreckage.
