A landslide occurred near two four-story buildings in the Üsküdar district of Istanbul on Thursday evening.
The incident took place around 11 p.m. in the district's Küplüce neighborhood on Atlas Çiçeği Street. The landslide occurred for an unknown reason in the area where the gardens of the two 4-story buildings are located.
Upon hearing the noise, the residents of the building called emergency services, and police, fire, Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) and municipal teams were dispatched to the scene.
After the teams' investigation, the nine apartments in the two buildings were evacuated as a precaution, while three shops on the ground floor were sealed. The soil mass that detached landed in an area previously used as a stone quarry.
Ömer Faruk Düztaş, a resident of an evacuated building, stated: "The incident occurred around 11 p.m. We woke up to a loud noise. About 10-15 minutes later, we heard another noise and realized it was a landslide. A 2-3 meter landslide occurred in the building’s garden."
He also added: "The AFAD and municipal teams arrived at the scene for inspections. We evacuated the building as a precaution. The building's condition will be determined tomorrow. The evacuated residents went to their relatives or nearby hotels; thankfully, no one had to stay on the streets."
Abdülkerim Düztaş, who runs a furniture shop in the building, mentioned: "The garden in front of the building slid down by about one and a half meters yesterday evening. There is no damage to the building, only to the garden. The garden was being worked on. There were also stone fragments from the 1998 earthquake that fell with the soil. We are tenants in the building. The building is 15 meters away. This area used to be a stone quarry, and such things happen here occasionally, especially when it rains."
