Turkey Earthquake Felt across Lebanon

Residents of Beirut, Keserwan, Tripoli, Sidon and several other Lebanese region on Friday felt an earthquake that struck eastern Turkey, Lebanon’s National News Agency said.

Lebanon’s state-run National Center for Geophysics said “the earthquake felt by the Lebanese in several regions originated in Turkey, where a 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit areas in eastern Turkey.”

In remarks to MTV, the secretary general of Lebanon’s National Center for Scientific Research, Moein Hamze, said the quake struck at 7:55 pm and had nothing to do with any seismic activity on the faultlines of Lebanon or the neighboring countries, stressing that “there is no reason for panic.”

A Turkish government agency said the quake measured 6.8 on the Richter scale. There was no immediate information about any casualties but Tyrkey's interior minister said there were reports that some buildings had collapsed.

The quake shook the Sivrice district in the eastern province of Elazig.

The U.S. Geological Survey assessed the quake's magnitude at 6.7, and said it struck at a depth of 10 kilometers.

"Sivrice was shaken very seriously, we have directed our rescue teams to the region," Turkey’s interior minister told reporters.

Turkey lies on major faultlines and is prone to earthquakes.

In 1999, a devastating 7.4 magnitude earthquake hit Izmit in western Turkey, leaving more than 17,000 people dead including about 1,000 in the economic capital Istanbul.