Moderate Earthquake Causes Fear In Bingol

BINGOL (CIHAN) - A moderate earthquake rattled the town of Sancak, Bingöl on Saturday evening, but there were no reports of casualties or damage.
The tremor measuring 4.0 on the Richter scale occurred at 9:06 pm in town of Sancak, the eastern Turkish province of Bingöl, the Istanbul-based Kandilli Observatory House said in a statement.
The quake was also felt in city of Bingol and environs and caused panic and fear.
An earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale had hit Bingol province on May 1 2003, leaving nearly 200 people dead.
Earthquakes happen frequently in Turkey, which lies on a seismically active stretch of the Anatolian fault. Turkish people are very sensitive to tremors following very serious earthquakes in recent years.
Eighteen people were killed and 21 wounded during a moderate earthquake, with a magnitude of 5,1, early this month whose epicenter was near the eastern Turkish town of Doðubeyazýt, in Agrý province near the Iranian Border.
One of Turkey's worst quakes was recorded in August 1999. Measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale, it killed more than 17 thousand people and destroyed or damaged thousands of buildings in North-Western Anatolia.