So far 7 people are known to have died in yesterday's tremor, with at least 250 others injured. At least 25 buildings damaged in last month's quake have now collapsed and telephone communications in the region have been cut off. The Turkish prime minister, Bulent Ecevit, has announced that the tremor was an aftershock of the main one which destroyed large areas in the north-west of the country four weeks ago, and he urged people to remain calm. Greek seismologists, however, have disputed the intensity of yesterday's tremor, claiming it registered 6.8 and not 5.8 on the Richter scale as Turkish seismologists reported, while experts in Strasbourg say the quake measured 6.1. The tremor was also felt in Constantinople, causing fear and panic amongst parents and children for whom yesterday was the first day back to school after the summer holidays.
Schools are to remain close indefinitely.
Another tremor measuring 4 on the Richter scale was recorded in central Albania yesterday, and a weaker shock of 3.9 at Perachora, near Loutraki, an area that was badly hit in the major earthquake of 1981. The epicentre of the quake in Albania was 125 km south of Tirana. The Cypriot president, Glafkos Kliridis, has arrived in Athens for talks with the Greek prime minister and the president of the republic, Kostis Stefanopoulos. Mr Simitis and Mr Kliridis will discuss the American proposal for an informal meeting with the Turkish prime minister, Bulent Ecevit, the Turkish-Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktash, and the American president, Bill Clinton, in Constantinople in November. President Kliridis will go to the United States for a meeting with the United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, to discuss the long-standing Cyprus dispute.