Turkey earthquake: Is it safe to travel to Turkey and Rhodes? Simon Calder explains all

Turkey earthquake: Is it safe to travel to Turkey and Rhodes? Simon Calder explains all Source: The Independent

Transcript

00:00There have been yet more earthquakes in the eastern Mediterranean.

00:03In the early hours of Tuesday morning, a quake with magnitude 5.8 struck just south of the

00:12Turkish resort of Marmaris. It was also felt across the water at the Greek island of Rhodes.

00:19Tragically, it's said that a 14-year-old girl has died after a panic attack that was caused by

00:28the earthquake. There was moderate shaking, according to the US Geological Survey. Having

00:36been in a couple of earthquakes on Greek islands, I can confirm they are very, very disconcerting.

00:43TUI, the biggest holiday company in Europe, is telling holidaymakers, remain calm and follow

00:50any safety instructions provided by your accommodation or local officials. A lot of

00:56people who have got holidays booked in southern Turkey or maybe the Greek island of Rhodes or

01:02elsewhere in the region may be thinking, well, what do we do? And the answer is continue as

01:09normal. I can't see any likelihood that the holiday companies will allow people to cancel

01:17their trips without triggering the usual cancellation penalties. It is possible that they may subject

01:25to availability, allow you to move your holiday to somewhere else. But to put things into perspective,

01:33quakes like this are far from unknown. It's well worth educating yourself. You can find details

01:41online at The Independent about how to protect yourself in the event of an earthquake. But almost

01:48always these are relatively low intensity. They are disconcerting, but there is no need to take further action.