Earthquake in Turkey Leaves At Least 2 Dead, 79 Injured

An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.9 has struck north-west Turkey, killing at least two people and injuring 79, BBC reports.

The tremor struck just before midnight local time and centred on the town of Simav, in Kutahya province, some 310 km (190 miles) west of the capital Ankara.

Terrified residents ran into the streets, and many spent the night in cars after being warned not to go back to their homes.

One person died after jumping from a window in panic, officials said.

Environment Minister Veysel Eroglu put the death toll at two, and said that of the 79 injured only one was in a serious condition.

Kutahya Governor Kenan Ciftci said three people had died.

State media reported that at least one derelict building collapsed and the windows in some buildings were shattered by the quake, which struck at 11:15 pm (2015 GMT).

“It was so strong that we could not even move in the first few seconds,” lawmaker Idris Bal told NTV television. “People are waiting in their cars now.”

The quake was followed by around 50 aftershocks, the Kandilli observatory in Istanbul reported.

Turkey is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes because it sits on major geological fault lines.