Rome – The Civil Protection has issued a tsunami warning on the eastern coasts of southern Italy (Calabria, Puglia and Sicily). The alarm is the result of a violent seismic shock of magnitude 7.9 recorded in Turkey around 2 am Italian time. In its press release, the Civil Protection notes the risk of possible tsunami waves arriving on the Italian coasts and “recommends moving away from the coastal areas, reaching the higher nearby area and following the instructions of the local authorities”.
The tsunami consists of a series of sea waves produced by the rapid movement of a large mass of water. The alert indicates the possibility of a real danger to people near the coast, especially if in areas not very high, or even lower, than sea level. Even a wave of only 0.5 meters high can generate dangerous floods and very strong currents.
According to data from the Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (Ingv) and the US geological monitoring service Usgs, the earthquake in Turkey had its hypocenter about 25 km deep and its epicenter in the province of Gaziantep. Several aftershocks followed, the first, with the strongest, 11 minutes later, measuring 6.7. The earthquake was also felt in Lebanon, Greece, Israel and Cyprus. The Turkish authorities have not yet released any reports of victims, but some videos circulated on social media show collapsed buildings in many cities in the region. According to the BBC, a shopping center collapsed in Dyarbakir, in the southeast of the country.
