Earthquake in southeastern Turkey leaves dozens injured

An earthquake struck a village in southeastern Turkey before dawn on Tuesday, leaving dozens injured. 

The earthquake struck Samsat village in the province of Adiyaman early Tuesday at 3.34am. local time. The US Geological Survey said the quake had a magnitude of 5.1 at 10 kilometres deep.

Turkey's health minister said of those injured, 35 were still receiving treatment, according to official Anadolu news agency. Many were transferred to hospitals for treatment, but none are reportedly in serious condition.

The regional governor said the injuries were caused by panicked residents fleeing their homes.

Anadolu quoted victim Zeynep Berk whose house collapsed on her and four others. Neighbours rescued the family and attempts to recover their 150 animals continue.

The quake was also felt in neighboring provinces. Turkey's Kandilli Earthquake Monitoring Center recorded at least 13 aftershocks.

Turkey is a seismically active country because of its geographic location sitting between two large tectonic plates, Eurasia and Africa/Arabia. Both are grinding into one another, which periodically leads to tremors or earthquakes. 

Seismic movements mostly happen along Turkey's two main faultlines, the North Anatolian and East Anatolian faults. 

In 1999, a 7.6 magnitude earthquake in the northwestern city of Izmit left more than 17,000 people dead and 500,000 homeless. Earthquake safety has since been firmly on the agenda of Turkish authorities. However, experts and politicians say not enough has been done. 

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