Pictures... the 20th anniversary of the devastating Istanbul earthquake... the tragedy is still fresh in our minds

<p style=";text-align:left;direction:ltr">Weather of Arabia - On this day in the year 1999, the city of Istanbul was hit by a devastating earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale, which caused the death of 17 thousand people, the injury of approximately 50 thousand people, leaving 250 thousand homeless people without homes, and losses of approximately $ 9 billion.</p><p style=";text-align:left;direction:ltr"> The earthquake occurred at dawn hours and lasted 37 seconds, which is a long time in the world of earthquakes. This earthquake strongly affected the cities of Istanbul and Izmit, which were almost completely destroyed.</p><p style=";text-align:left;direction:ltr"> This earthquake caused a tsunami in the Sea of Marmara (2.5 meters high). The tsunami alone caused the death of 250 people.</p><p style=";text-align:left;direction:ltr"> Despite the passage of 20 years since the disaster, the people of these areas still remember this catastrophe in all its details.</p><p style=";text-align:left;direction:ltr"><br /> The attached photos show the extent of the destruction that befell the area on that difficult day.</p>