Latest news with #EfthimiosLekkas
Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Climate
- Daily Mirror
Mum and daughter 'petrified' as huge earthquake starts cracking apart their home
Dozens of people have spoken out online about the terror of being caught in the 6.2 and 5.8 magnitude earthquakes that hit Turkey and Greece at midnight on Tuesday A mum has told how she was left "petrified" when a massive magnitude six earthquake struck her home, shaking the property so hard that it tore plaster from the walls. Multiple tremors hit the border of Turkey and Greece on Monday night, with the largest, a massive 6.2 magnitude, striking between the Dodecanese Islands and Turkish west coast. A following 5.8 magnitude shock caused chaos in the area, with dozens of people seen jumping over the balconies of their hotels after they were shaken awake just after 2.30am. One person, a 14-year-old girl, died in the panic, with 69 injured and many other locals and holidaymakers telling of the intense experience. Among those affected the most by the tremors was a mum living in Armutalan, a Turkish town roughly 20 kilometres (12.5 miles) outside the earthquake epicentre. The anonymous parent submitted a report on the Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Centre saying she was asleep in bed with her daughter at the time it hit, adding she was left "petrified" when the earthquake started breaking apart her home and dashed glass on the floor. She added it "went on for a very long time and was very strong". The mum said: "I was asleep in bed with my daughter, the whole bed started shaking the lights were flashing on and off. Glass smashed, plaster from the wall everywhere, big cracks. I'm petrified. [It] went on for a very long time and was very strong." Dozens of other people responded with similar stories on the earthquake reporting site, with another holidaymaker staying in Turkey saying she was awakened to "the whole room shaking". They added: "The whole hotel was up and into the lobby." Another user from Bozburun said that, while it didn't last long for them, the tremors made a massive ruckus outside their home. They said the "tremble was for 15 seconds or so", adding: "It was like a buldozer was working outside the house." And another user added: "The shaking sound was severe and the cabinet door sounds increased. I had trouble keeping my balance." While the initial earthquakes have now passed, dozens of aftershocks have continued to surge across Greece and Turkey in the nearly 12 hours since. The more recent earthquakes have ranged from a magnitude 1.2 to 3.2, and seismologists are not particularly worried about any potential danger. Speaking to state-run Greek broadcaster ERT News, Efthimios Lekkas said the tremors only felt widespread as they struck at a significant depth, around 69 kilometres. This, combined with the waves it produced, he added, were not enough to cause extensive damage on the surface. He said: "We are in no way worried about these earthquakes. This one was intense due to its depth, it covers a larger surface area, but the seismic waves do not have the energy they should have to see damage on the surface."
Time Out
4 days ago
- Climate
- Time Out
Is it safe to travel to Türkiye and Greece? Latest advice following 5.8-magnitude earthquake
A strong 5.8-magnitude earthquake has struck the popular holiday resort of Marmaris, Türkiye, with intense tremors also felt on the neighbouring Greek island of Rhodes. A 14-year-old girl has reportedly died in the town of Fethiye in Türkiye after suffering a panic attack, while at least 69 people sustained injuries while jumping from buildings in Rhodes and elsewhere. This is, of course, worrying news if you have a trip booked to the region. Here's everything we know so far about travel disruptions and whether it's safe to visit Greece and Türkiye. Where was the earthquake? The 5.8-magnitude earthquake struck at 2.17am local time in the Mediterranean Sea off of Türkiye's southwestern coast, causing locals and tourists to evacuate buildings in Marmaris and the neighbouring Greek island of Rhodes. Is it safe to travel to Türkiye and Greece? The UK Foreign Office has not updated its advice page for travelling to Türkiye or Greece following the earthquake, and flights are operating as normal. According to Metro, seismologist Efthimios Lekkas told Greece's state-run broadcaster ERT News that they 'are in no way worried about these earthquakes' and that, though the earthquake 'was intense due to its depth ... the seismic waves do not have the energy they should have to see damage on the surface'. When was the last earthquake in Türkiye? As Türkiye sits on top of major fault lines, there's a high chance of earthquakes. The most recent serious earthquakes struck Türkiye and neighbouring Syria in February 2023, killing over 50,000 people, displacing thousands more, and destroying buildings on both sides of the border. Today's earthquake comes just weeks after a 5.9-magnitude tremor hit the Greek islands of Crete, Kasos and Karpathos, triggering a tsunami warning.
Euronews
4 days ago
- Politics
- Euronews
Ukraine wants a ceasefire, Russia wants Ukraine to surrender
Residents in western Turkey and the Greek islands were shaken awake on Monday evening when a strong 5.8-magnitude earthquake jolted the Turkish coastal town of Marmaris. A 14-year-old girl died in the town of Fethiye after the quake, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said, despite being taken to the hospital. She had suffered a panic attack. The quake, which had a depth of 68 km according to the European Seismological Centre, was felt across the Dodecanese islands. At least 69 people were injured after attempting to jump from heights due to panic caused by the tremors, which were strongly felt on the Greek island of Rhodes — the largest of the Dodecanese islands near the Turkish border. No injuries were reported in Rhodes; however, tourists visiting the island said they woke up to violent shaking. Travel agency TUI cautioned tourists in the region to 'remain calm and follow any safety instructions provided by your accommodation or local officials.' Greek seismologist Efthimios Lekkas told ERT News that the earthquake's depth caused it to be felt across a wider area. "It will not have a significant impact on the surface, there will be no tsunami, and above all, there will not be a rich aftershock sequence," he noted. Due to its significant depth, the quake "was very intense for the residents of Rhodes and its surrounding areas. From here on, there will not be any major damage." Although the second round of talks between Kyiv and Moscow on Monday did not bring an end to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine any closer, it did provide more details on where both sides stand and, more specifically, what they are demanding from each other. In the run-up to Monday's meeting, Kyiv and Moscow reportedly agreed to both submit their individual "peace memorandum," outlining the key positions before delegations met for talks. Ukraine handed its memorandum to Russia ahead of the meeting, but Russia waited until the meeting took place in Istanbul before delivering its document. Similar to the first round on 16 May, negotiations ended with an agreement for a prisoner exchange covering two categories: young soldiers between the age of 18-25 years and seriously ill POWs. Kyiv and Moscow also agreed to exchange the bodies of the fallen soldiers, numbering 6,000 from each side. Russian state media reported that the heads of the delegations held a separate meeting which lasted two and a half hours – more than twice as long as the official talks – and according to Kremlin-affiliated outlets it "predetermined an efficient course of further negotiations." The key point in Ukraine's roadmap is a ceasefire. Kyiv is demanding that be the first step towards any further measures and any possible peace deals. The Ukrainian delegation again offered Moscow a complete ceasefire as well as a reciprocal exchange of prisoners of war, the return of children abducted by Russia and the release of all civilians from Russian captivity. Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, who led Kyiv's team, confirmed that Ukraine handed to Russia a list of "several hundred" Ukrainian children forcefully deported by Russia. Another item on the agenda was organising a meeting at leadership level, possibly with US President Donald Trump in attendance. "We believe that further work between the delegations makes sense if it is aimed at preparing a meeting between state leaders. We have proposed to the Russian side to hold a meeting at the level of leaders by the end of this month, from 20 to 30 June. This is very important for the negotiation process," Umerov said. According to media reports, Ukraine's memorandum also states that Kyiv will continue on its path toward joining the EU and will become a member of NATO if there is consensus within the alliance. Kyiv is reportedly also calling for security guarantees that would prevent Russia from launching another attack on the country, as well as the involvement of the international community to achieve this. In return, Ukraine reportedly may be willing to accept the gradual lifting of some sanctions against Russia, but with a mechanism for their snapback renewal if necessary. Russia claims to have offered Ukraine a "partial" ceasefire covering certain parts of the frontline in its roadmap. Vladimir Medinsky, the head of the Russian delegation, said Russia prepared a "two-part memorandum" the second part of which proposes a two to three-day ceasefire in certain areas during the negotiations. He also announced the upcoming prisoner exchange and confirmed that the Russian delegation had received a list of 339 names of the children handed over by Ukraine. Medinsky said Russia will consider each case on the list and accused Kyiv of what he called "staging a show" on the topic of the deported children, adding that it is mainly targeted at "sympathetic Europeans." Medinsky said Kyiv is "trying to squeeze out a tear by raising this issue." According to official Ukrainian information, up to 20,000 Ukrainian children remain in Russia after being illegally deported from Ukraine. These are the children for whom detailed information has been collected. Their place of residence in Ukraine and their location in Russia are known. The actual figure is likely to be much higher. Yale's Humanitarian Research Lab placed the number of deported Ukrainian children closer to 35,000. Moscow claimed the number could be as high as 700,000. Regarding a complete ceasefire, Russia's first condition is Kyiv's "complete withdrawal of forces" from four regions of Ukraine - Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson - which Moscow claims as its own annexed "new territories." Russia also demands international recognition of the territories it has occupied since 2014, including the Crimean Peninsula. As per Russia's roadmap, Western arms supplies to Ukraine should be stopped during the ceasefire and this also applies to intelligence sharing. Moscow also demands Ukraine lift martial law and hold elections before any peace deal can be signed. The Monday meeting in Istanbul took place a day after Ukraine's operation "Spiderweb," which says Kyiv hit over a third of all Russian missile carriers in a coordinated drone attack on Sunday. Following that operation, Russia's demands to Ukraine voiced in Istanbul also include "Kyiv's refusal to engage in sabotage and subversive activities against Russia." Cambodia has said it plans to seek a ruling from the UN's International Court of Justice (ICJ) over border disputes with Thailand, one of which triggered a fatal military clash last week. Cambodia's National Assembly, where Prime Minister Hun Manet's ruling Cambodian People's Party holds all but a handful of seats, voted on Monday to support the government's decision. In 1962, the ICJ awarded to Cambodia disputed territory on which a historic temple is located, a move that rankled Thailand and to this day remains a major irritant in bilateral relations. The ICJ reaffirmed that ruling in 2013. Speaking on Monday at a meeting of the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Thailand's Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa said Cambodia has the right to file a case with the court, but that would not affect talks between the two countries under existing mechanisms. He said Thai officials will meet later this week to issue a clear stance on the matter. Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, who is also defence minister, said in a post on Facebook that both countries are working to resolve the crisis by avoiding further confrontations and violence. "I'd like to assure that we will avoid escalation of the conflict that would only result in losses for both sides in every aspect," he wrote. A border dispute near Morokot village in Cambodia's northwestern province of Preah Vihear on 28 May left one Cambodian soldier dead. It started when Cambodian troops were conducting a routine patrol along the border when the Thai side opened fire, according to Cambodian officials. The Thai army says that Cambodian soldiers entered a disputed patch of land and opened fire when Thai soldiers approached them to negotiate. Hun Manet in social media posts on Sunday said that his government will ask the court to rule on the demarcation of several disputed areas, including where the centuries-old Hindu-style Ta Moan Thom, Ta Moan Toch and Ta Kro Bei temples are located. In February, Cambodian troops and their family members entered the Ta Moan Thom temple in disputed territory and sang the Cambodian national anthem, leading to a brief argument with Thai forces. Following last week's incident, both sides called for calm and talks to ease their differences, while reserving the right to use military action to safeguard their sovereignty. On 29 May, the two countries' army commanders met to discuss how to avoid more clashes. On Monday, Hun Manet called for the two countries to have their Joint Border Commission continue the work of border demarcation, as well as having the ICJ take up the issue. He said his government would take the cases of the other disputed areas to the ICJ to determine ownership even if Thailand did not join in the appeal, in order "to end this problem and extinguish it once and for all so that there is no further confusion." "In particular, let's not fall for the incitement of a handful of extremist groups in Cambodia and Thailand, and let's not fall into the problem of confrontation by armed forces of the two countries," he said. Hun Manet's intention to appeal to The Hague-based court may touch a nerve in Thailand because the 1962 ruling awarding the Preah Vihear temple to Cambodia is a touchstone issue for Thai nationalists and often comes up in domestic politics. Last year, Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinatwatra's government was attacked on nationalist grounds for proposing to resume talks with Cambodia on demarcation of maritime territory believed to hold profitable hydrocarbon resources. In 2008, there were several deadly clashes between Cambodia and Thai forces at the Preah Vihear promontory, an area on which sits a 1,000-year-old temple that was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site the same year.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
At least one dead after earthquake in Turkey felt across Greek islands
Residents in western Turkey and the Greek islands were shaken awake on Monday evening when a strong 5.8-magnitude earthquake jolted the Turkish coastal town of Marmaris. A 14-year-old girl died in the town of Fethiye after the quake, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said, despite being taken to the hospital. She had suffered a panic attack. The quake, which had a depth of 68 km according to the European Seismological Centre, was felt across the Dodecanese islands. At least 69 people were injured after attempting to jump from heights due to panic caused by the tremors, which were strongly felt on the Greek island of Rhodes — the largest of the Dodecanese islands near the Turkish border. No injuries were reported in Rhodes; however, tourists visiting the island said they woke up to violent shaking. Travel agency TUI cautioned tourists in the region to 'remain calm and follow any safety instructions provided by your accommodation or local officials.' Greek seismologist Efthimios Lekkas told ERT News that the earthquake's depth caused it to be felt across a wider area. "It will not have a significant impact on the surface, there will be no tsunami, and above all, there will not be a rich aftershock sequence," he noted. Due to its significant depth, the quake "was very intense for the residents of Rhodes and its surrounding areas. From here on, there will not be any major damage."
Euronews
4 days ago
- Politics
- Euronews
At least one dead after earthquake in Turkey felt across Greek islands
Residents in western Turkey and the Greek islands were shaken awake on Monday evening when a strong 5.8-magnitude earthquake jolted the Turkish coastal town of Marmaris. A 14-year-old girl died in the town of Fethiye after the quake, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said, despite being taken to the hospital. She had suffered a panic attack. The quake, which had a depth of 68 km according to the European Seismological Centre, was felt across the Dodecanese islands. At least 69 people were injured after attempting to jump from heights due to panic caused by the tremors, which were strongly felt on the Greek island of Rhodes — the largest of the Dodecanese islands near the Turkish border. No injuries were reported in Rhodes; however, tourists visiting the island said they woke up to violent shaking. Travel agency TUI cautioned tourists in the region to 'remain calm and follow any safety instructions provided by your accommodation or local officials.' Greek seismologist Efthimios Lekkas told ERT News that the earthquake's depth caused it to be felt across a wider area. "It will not have a significant impact on the surface, there will be no tsunami, and above all, there will not be a rich aftershock sequence," he noted. Due to its significant depth, the quake "was very intense for the residents of Rhodes and its surrounding areas. From here on, there will not be any major damage." Although the second round of talks between Kyiv and Moscow did not bring an end to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine any closer, it did provide more details on where both sides stand and more specifically what they are demanding from each other. In the run up to Monday's meeting, Kyiv and Moscow reportedly agreed to both submit their individual "peace memorandum," outlining the key positions before delegations met for talks. Ukraine handed its memorandum to Russia ahead of the meeting, but Russia waited until the meeting took place in Istanbul before delivering its document. Similar to the first round on 16 May, negotiations ended with an agreement for a prisoner exchange covering two categories: young soldiers between the age of 18-25 years and seriously ill POWs. Kyiv and Moscow also agreed to exchange the bodies of the fallen soldiers, numbering 6,000 from each side. Russian state media reported that the heads of the delegations held a separate meeting which lasted two and a half hours – more than twice as long as the official talks – and according to Kremlin-affiliated outlets it "predetermined an efficient course of further negotiations." The key point in Ukraine's roadmap is a ceasefire. Kyiv is demanding that be the first step towards any further measures and any possible peace deals. The Ukrainian delegation again offered Moscow a complete ceasefire as well as a reciprocal exchange of prisoners of war, the return of children abducted by Russia and the release of all civilians from Russian captivity. Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, who led Kyiv's team, confirmed that Ukraine handed to Russia a list of "several hundred" Ukrainian children forcefully deported by Russia. Another item on the agenda was organising a meeting at leadership level, possibly with US President Donald Trump in attendance. "We believe that further work between the delegations makes sense if it is aimed at preparing a meeting between state leaders. We have proposed to the Russian side to hold a meeting at the level of leaders by the end of this month, from 20 to 30 June. This is very important for the negotiation process," Umerov said. According to media reports, Ukraine's memorandum also states that Kyiv will continue on its path toward joining the EU and will become a member of NATO if there is consensus within the alliance. Kyiv is reportedly also calling for security guarantees that would prevent Russia from launching another attack on the country, as well as the involvement of the international community to achieve this. In return, Ukraine reportedly may be willing to accept the gradual lifting of some sanctions against Russia, but with a mechanism for their snapback renewal if necessary. Russia claims to have offered Ukraine a "partial" ceasefire covering certain parts of the frontline in its roadmap. Vladimir Medinsky, the head of the Russian delegation, said Russia prepared a "two-part memorandum" the second part of which proposes a two to three-day ceasefire in certain areas during the negotiations. He also announced the upcoming prisoner exchange and confirmed that the Russian delegation had received a list of 339 names of the children handed over by Ukraine. Medinsky said Russia will consider each case on the list and accused Kyiv of what he called "staging a show" on the topic of the deported children, adding that it is mainly targeted at "sympathetic Europeans." Medinsky said Kyiv is "trying to squeeze out a tear by raising this issue." According to official Ukrainian information, up to 20,000 Ukrainian children remain in Russia after being illegally deported from Ukraine. These are the children for whom detailed information has been collected. Their place of residence in Ukraine and their location in Russia are known. The actual figure is likely to be much higher. Yale's Humanitarian Research Lab placed the number of deported Ukrainian children closer to 35,000. Moscow claimed the number could be as high as 700,000. Regarding a complete ceasefire, Russia's first condition is Kyiv's "complete withdrawal of forces" from four regions of Ukraine - Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson - which Moscow claims as its own annexed "new territories." Russia also demands international recognition of the territories it has occupied since 2014, including the Crimean Peninsula. As per Russia's roadmap, Western arms supplies to Ukraine should be stopped during the ceasefire and this also applies to intelligence sharing. Moscow also demands Ukraine lift martial law and hold elections before any peace deal can be signed. The 2 June meeting in Istanbul tool place a day after Ukraine's operation "Spiderweb," which say Kyiv hit over a third of all Russian missile carriers in a coordinated drone attack on Sunday.** Following that operation, Russia's demands to Ukraine voiced in Istanbul also include "Kyiv's refusal to engage in sabotage and subversive activities against Russia."
