7.8 magnitude earthquake rocks Turkey, aftershock felt in many countries

Central Turkey was hit by an earthquake of magnitude 7.8 on Monday, according to the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ). According to the GFZ, the earthquake occurred at a depth of 10 km.

Countries including Cyprus, Turkey, Greece, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the UK, Iraq, and Georgia felt the effects. It was unclear early Monday what damage or deaths may have resulted from the quake.

Images on national broadcaster TRT showed damaged buildings and people congregating in the streets despite the snow. According to a Reuters source, the earthquake lasted for nearly a minute and caused damage to buildings.

Several images shared on social media revealed earthquake damage to structures in several places in the southeast, but no reports of deaths have been made public.

Note that Turkey is situated in a seismically active region. More than 17,000 people were killed in the 1999 Duzce earthquake (with a magnitude of 7.4), the deadliest in Turkey in decades.

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Many seismologists have warned for years that a major earthquake could wreak havoc on Istanbul, but the city continues to permit broad construction without taking any safety precautions.