On 21 July 2017, a large earthquake measuring 6.6 on the moment magnitude scale struck right near Bodrum, a popular town of tourism in Turkey, killing 2 and injuring hundreds.

[1] The Aegean region, is a seismically and volcanically active area that has been deformed under a north-to-south extensional tectonic regime at up to 30-40 mm/yr since the Pliocene.

Focal mechanism solutions of the earthquake indicate this event was generated by an east–west trending normal fault within the lithosphere within the Aegean Plate.

On Kos, the old town was worst affected, with the cathedral, the 18th century Defterdar mosque, and a 14th-century castle being badly damaged.

The main harbour had its floor crack as a result of the tremor, and was subsequently declared unsafe for use by government officials, who rerouted all ferries to the smaller port town of Kefalos in west Kos.

[12] The two dead were identified as Turkish and Swedish nationals, and were killed when the upper facade of a bar collapsed on top of them.

[13] Seven seriously injured people on Kos were flown to hospitals in Athens and Heraklion, including two men from Sweden and Norway in critical condition.