This is the tense moment a TV presenter was spotted taking a deep breath during a live broadcast as a magnitude 6.1 earthquake shook eastern Turkey and Syria.
Turjey’s Malatya province was rocked by the earthquake on Wednesday morning, with ripples felt in the cities of Diyarbakir, Elazig and Malatya.
When one of the powerful tremors hit, an ERTV presenter was seen clutching the table mid-way through a news lecture as the camera shook.
She said, “Oh my God, it’s still going on,” as she looked around the studio, held her papers in place and took a deep breath.
When the violent tremors subsided, the presenter closed her eyes and continued her slow breathing technique.
A Turkish TV presenter struggled to remain calm during a live broadcast as a magnitude 6.1 earthquake shook eastern Turkey and Syria
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) interactive map showing where the earthquake was felt in Turkey’s Malatya province
Footage shared with X showed a panicked citizen in Turkey running out of a shaking office
No casualties have been reported after this morning’s earthquake, but in Diyarbakir people left their homes in panic. The Turkish Presidency for Disaster and Emergency Management added: “Our teams are on alert and field scans are underway.”
Syria’s state news agency said the earthquake was felt in the provinces of Hasakah, Deir Al Zor and Aleppo.
The European Mediterranean Seismological Center said the earthquake occurred at a depth of 9.0 kilometers (5.6 miles) beneath the Earth.
AFAD took to X, formerly Twitter, after the first earthquake to post an update for panicked citizens.
It reported that a total of 374 reports had been made to the emergency call center 112 as a result of the earthquake, and four people had been rescued from a partially damaged building in Elazığ province.
However, a total of three buildings were damaged in Malatya, Şanlıurfa and Elazığ provinces, and rockfall occurred in Pötürge and Kale districts of Malatya province.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya confirmed on X that three buildings in three separate areas had “partially collapsed” and that emergency services had received several dozen calls for help.
Footage shared on social media has captured office buildings and workspaces shaking as people leave rooms that appear to be on the verge of collapse.
Many were waiting in the streets and parks and did not want to enter.
Local officials in Malatya also said there were no “negative developments” to report at this stage, although the provincial governor said all primary and secondary schools would be closed for the day.
The USGS has issued a green alert for shock fatalities, indicating the likelihood of casualties is low.
A yellow warning for economic losses was issued, indicating that some damage is possible and the impact will be relatively local.
It comes after a devastating earthquake struck Turkey and Syria last year in the space of just 12 hours.
The USGC also uploaded a map showing the estimated intensity of the earthquakes
Pictured: An aerial view of a destroyed building in Gaziantep, southern Turkey, 2023. The earthquake – which could be Turkey’s largest ever – occurred north of Gaziantep, Turkey, which is about 90 kilometers from the Syrian border and has a population of approximately 2 million
Pictured: A rescue worker carried an injured child from the rubble of a collapsed building in rebel-held Syria, after a deadly earthquake struck Turkey and Syria in 2023
People walked next to a mosque that was destroyed by an earthquake in Malatya in 2023
The first earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.8, struck southeastern Turkey, near the Syrian border, and the second struck four kilometers outside Ekinozu in central Turkey.
It was the most devastating attack in earthquake-hit Turkey in more than two decades and was as strong as the one in 1939, the most powerful recorded there.
The explosion occurred at 4:17 a.m. local time (0117 GMT) at a depth of about 11 miles (18 kilometers), the US Geological Survey said at the time.
A strong aftershock measuring 6.7 rumbled about 10 minutes later, causing even more damage.
According to the Turkish agency, forty aftershocks were felt.
Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Agency said the earthquake killed dozens of people in seven Turkish provinces.
A few weeks later, on February 20, the region was hit by another major earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 million on the Richter scale.
More than 55,000 people are estimated to have died in the earthquakes, while many more were injured and displaced.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow.