Earthquake Strikes Greece, Turkey, 2 Killed, Over 500 Hurt

KOS, Greece (AP) — A powerful overnight earthquake shook holiday resorts in Greece and Turkey, injuring nearly 500 people and leaving two tourists dead on the Greek island of Kos, where revelers at a bar were crushed in a building collapse. Some of the injuries were caused as tourists and local residents scrambled out of buildings and even leapt from balconies after the 6.5-magnitude quake struck at about 1:30 a.m. local time. Several hundred thousand vacationers and locals in the two countries were kept awake by dozens of aftershocks that followed the main quake, with many sleeping outdoors on sunbeds or slumped on cafe tables. Authorities on Kos said the two dead tourists were from Sweden and Turkey. Thirteen others injured were airlifter to other Greek hospitals, include a foreign national who had to have a leg amputated and another with life-threatening head injuries. In neighboring Turkey, authorities said some 350 people were hurt, most with light injuries as they fled buildings. Seismologists said the shallow depth of the quake was to blame for the damage and a 60 centimeter (2-foot) sea swell that scattered cars, boats, and trash bins across shorelines in the east Aegean Sea. Hundreds of revelers were in or near the popular White Corner Club — housed in a renovated building dating to the 1930s — in the old town of Kos when the building partially collapsed. Christopher Hackland, a Scottish diving instructor, described the chaotic scene at his hotel when the quake...
Source: JEMS: Journal of Emergency Medical Services News - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Major Incidents News Source Type: news