A woman in Izmit is consoled after a tremor hit Turkey on Tuesday    GALLERIES: A country lies shattered The story of a rescue INTERACTIVE: Chronology of major earthquakes over the last 20 years MESSAGE BOARDS: Turkey Quake RELATED AUDIO Click here to listen to reactions to the earthquake in Turkey

August 31, 1999
Web posted at: 10:41 a.m. EDT (1441 GMT)

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- At least one person was killed Tuesday when a strong earthquake and an aftershock shook northwestern Turkey, just two weeks after a deadly 7.4 magnitude quake left more than 14,000 dead.

Dozens were injured in Tuesday's twin tremors, which were centered on the industrial town of Izmit and were felt in Istanbul 50 miles (80 kilometers) away. Izmit was severely damaged in the August 17 earthquake.

The first of Tuesday's quakes, measuring a magnitude of 5.2, struck just after 11 a.m.. A 4.6 magnitude aftershock followed 20 minutes later.

Panicked people rushed out of homes and offices and into the open as debris fell from already weakened buildings.

"I saw the walls cracking, the cupboard fell in front of me, and I was about to pass out," said 20-year-old Mustafa Kabil, who was in his house in the town of Kullar.

Part of a depot at a tire factory collapsed in Izmit, and a damaged six-story building fell down in the nearby town of Derince, the Anatolia news agency said.

Anatolia said one person died in Izmit after being hit by falling debris. Hospital officials said at least 166 people were injured, most from leaping off balconies and out of windows in panic.

The August 17 quake destroyed thousands of buildings, leaving hundreds of thousands of people homeless and living in tent cities.

Police in Duzce arrested 16 people contractors, engineers and property owners, and warrants were issued for 17 more. The 33 were involved in the construction of buildings that collapsed in the big earthquake, killing 117 people.

Many in Turkey blame contractors for the high death toll in the August 17 quake. The builders, they say, cut corners to construct unsound buildings.

A number of contractors were sentenced to up to three years in jail for manslaughter after an earthquake in southern Turkey last year.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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