Earthquake destroys Roman castle in Turkey

A historic castle used by the Romans and Byzantines was badly damaged by an earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria.

Gaziantep Castle, a tourist attraction in southeastern Turkey, collapsed during the 7.8 magnitude earthquake Monday that destroyed an estimated 1,700 buildings across the country and killed more than 600 people, reported CNN.

“Some of the bastions in the east, south and southeast parts of the historical Gaziantep Castle in the central Şahinbey district were destroyed by the earthquake, the debris was scattered on the road,” reported the Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu. “The iron railings around the castle were scattered on the surrounding sidewalks. The retaining wall next to the castle also collapsed. In some bastions, large cracks were observed."

The castle was first built as a watchtower in the Roman period in the second and third centuries C.E. and later expanded, and it took its current form during the Byzantine Emperor Justinian around 550 C.E.

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The quake, which included more than 18 aftershocks measuring 4 or higher on the Richter scale, is one of the strongest to hit Turkey in more than a century.