03-06-2025
Tourist in Rhodes describes ‘whole hotel shaking' as earthquake struck
Tourists have described their hotels shaking after a magnitude 5.8 earthquake hit western Turkey and nearby Greek islands on Tuesday morning.
The earthquake which hit the Turkish resort town of Marmaris at 2.17am has left one person dead and at least 69 injured.
It was felt in neighbouring regions, including on the Greek island of Rhodes, waking many from their sleep.
Matthew McCormick, a father of two from Belfast, was on holiday with his family in Rhodes when he was woken up by a loud rumbling noise.
'We got to bed and had just fallen over to sleep and the next thing there was just this loud, rumbling noise,' Mr McCormick, 35, told the PA news agency.
'And then the next minute, the whole hotel was just shaking.
'It was very surreal, it woke me and my wife up and my first concern was for the four-year-old beside us.
'She woke up and she started to cry.
'She was terrified – I think for us at that point, it was just trying to make sure she was OK.
'I tried to have a look at the roof, and it didn't look like there were any cracks or anything appearing in the roof.
'I figured that we were safe enough.'
Mr McCormick, who is heading home to Belfast on Tuesday, said he was initially concerned about a bombing attack when he first woke up but soon discovered it was a natural disaster.
'My gut feeling was either there's been bombs landing somewhere or it's an earthquake,' he said.
'Given some of the current global politics there was a slight fear that something had kicked off here overnight.'
Despite the shaking and disturbance overnight Mr McCormick reported no signs of visible damage and calm seas on Tuesday afternoon.
Turkish interior minister Ali Yerlikaya said on X that a 14-year-old girl was taken to hospital and died there after what he said was an anxiety attack.
It was not known if she had any underlying conditions.
At least 69 other people were treated for injuries after jumping from windows or balconies in panic, he said, but there were no reports of damage to buildings.
Salem Swan, a 25-year-old carer from Sunderland who is on holiday in Bodrum in western Turkey, also felt her hotel shaking.
'The earthquake wasn't that strong where we are in Bodrum, we are about 164km from Marmaris where the earthquake hit,' she told PA.
'There was some shaking around 2.15am for us but it only lasted for maybe 30 seconds to a minute here so it was over quite quick.
'None of the buildings here were affected as far as I know but we have had a leak in our accommodation bathroom which we are under the impression the earthquake potentially had caused.'
Turkey sits on top of major fault lines and earthquakes are frequent.
In 2023, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake killed more than 53,000 people in Turkey and destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of buildings in 11 southern and southeastern provinces.
Another 6,000 people were killed in the northern parts of neighbouring Syria.
The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is not advising against travel to either western Turkey or the Greek islands at present.
