A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck Sarıoğlan, a small town in the central Turkish province of Kayseri, early Tuesday. The earthquake occurred at a depth of 23.7 kilometers (14.7 miles), the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) announced, at 2:28 a.m. local time (11:28 p.m. GMT).
Authorities announced that some buildings suffered from cracks while the walls of some stables in rural parts of Sarıoğlan collapsed. No casualties were reported but two people were hospitalized after suffering panic attacks. Kayseri Governor Şehmus Günaydın tweeted that crews were deployed to Sarıoğlan and other areas near the epicenter of the quake to examine the damage.
Ayhan Oran, a resident, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that he jumped out of bed when he felt the tremors. “The clock on the wall fell on the ground and I saw cracks on the walls. I was so scared. I am still trembling,” Oran, who lives in a rural neighborhood, said. He reported that the stable next to his home was slightly damaged, but his livestock were all fine.
Media outlets reported that 21 aftershocks occurred following the earthquake within the following three hours.
Kayseri is among the Turkish provinces with a medium earthquake risk in a country crisscrossed by active fault lines. The town of Sarıoğlan suffered another earthquake at a magnitude of 4.6, the highest in recent memory for the town last year. Kayseri in general has not suffered from any large-scale earthquake since 1940, when a magnitude 6.7 earthquake whose epicenter was Develi district killed 35 people.
