The Prime Ministry's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) Aydın Chairman Recep Çoşkun said on Monday that authorities and residents of the province should be prepared for an earthquake measuring 7 on the Richter scale.

Speaking at a search and rescue drill, Çoşkun said the timeline of the earthquake could not be estimated but there was no way one could avoid the conclusion that a huge tremor would shake the province at one point in the future. The drill included establishing security around a collapsed building, emergency rescue efforts, transportation of the injured to hospitals and precautions taken against fires.

Çoşkun said Aydın, which has a population over 1 million and includes two of Turkey's preeminent tourism centers, Kuşadası and Didim, on the Aegean coast, was within a first-level earthquake zone. "If one looks at the historical earthquake record, one can see that there were earthquakes measuring up to 9 on the Richter scale in the region. In 1955, there was a magnitude 7 earthquake near Didim. We need to be ready for a possible huge earthquake," he said.