The person who died was identified as 81-year-old retired worker Nihat Önbaş. He had been rescued from the wreckage of a collapsed three-storey building in Sındırgı but later died in hospital. His wife suffered a broken arm. Four people were pulled alive from that building during the search, while two others had managed to leave by themselves. Officials said the operation there was subsequently completed and no other collapsed structure was under active search.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said one building had collapsed and another was heavily damaged across seven neighbourhoods. In 16 rural neighbourhoods, structures also fell; 12 were abandoned and four were occupied, but residents of the occupied homes escaped without rescue teams. Two mosque minarets collapsed. Authorities planned preliminary damage assessments after daybreak and urged people not to enter buildings if they had concerns about structural safety.
The Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency, AFAD, recorded the main earthquake at 7.53pm. It said 20 aftershocks had followed in the early period, including five with magnitudes between 4 and 5. A total of 319 personnel and 79 vehicles were involved in search and assessment work, and emergency call centres had received 24 damage reports. Additional teams and vehicles were sent from AFAD offices in numerous surrounding provinces.
The shaking caused people to leave homes and gather in open areas far beyond Sındırgı. Footage described by CNN Türk showed goods falling from shop shelves and residents rushing outdoors. Despite the broad area in which the earthquake was felt, officials reported no interruption to electricity, water, natural gas or mobile networks. Inspections of dams in Balıkesir and nearby provinces found no problem, the agriculture and forestry minister said.
The environment ministry deployed teams to inspect damaged buildings and evaluate individual reports. Search crews had completed the known rescue operation by the time of the official briefing, shifting the focus toward aftershock monitoring and structural assessment. With further tremors possible, authorities' central safety message was for residents to remain in secure areas and wait for technical evaluations before returning to any building that appeared damaged. Officials said none of the 29 injured people was in serious condition at the time of the briefing. That early medical assessment, like the building survey, remained subject to revision as residents reported damage and sought care after the initial shock.
