Earthquake in the Sea of Marmara shakes Istanbul, injuring 150 people
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries following the quake, which had a preliminary magnitude of 6.2.
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.2 has shaken Istanbul, Turkey’s emergency management agency said.
There were no immediate reports of serious damage in the metropolis of 16 million.
More than 150 people were admitted to hospital with injuries sustained while attempting to flee buildings, the Istanbul governor’s office said.
The earthquake had a shallow depth of about six miles, according to the United States Geological Survey.
Its epicentre was some 25 miles south-west of Istanbul in the Sea of Marmara.
It was followed by several aftershocks, including one measuring 5.3.
The earthquake was felt in the neighbouring provinces of Tekirdag, Yalova, Bursa and Balikesir and in the city of Izmir, some 550 kilometres south of Istanbul, reports said.
The incident, which started at 12.49pm during a public holiday when many children were out of school and celebrating in the streets, caused widespread panic in Istanbul, which is on tenterhooks due to the looming threat of a major earthquake.
Panicked residents rushed from their homes and buildings into the streets. The disaster and emergency management agency urged people to stay away from buildings.
The Istanbul governor’s office said in a statement: “Due to panic, 151 of our citizens were injured from jumping from heights. Their treatments are ongoing in hospitals, and they are not in a life-threatening condition.”
Many residents flocked to parks, school yards and other open areas to avoid being near buildings in case of collapse or subsequent earthquakes. Some people pitched tents in parks.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at an event marking the National Sovereignty and Children’s Day holiday, said: “Thank God, there does not seem to be any problems for now.
“May God protect our country and our people from all kinds of calamities, disasters, accidents and troubles.”
Turkey’s interior minister, Ali Yerlikaya, said the authorities had not received reports of collapsed buildings. He told HaberTurk television that there had been reports of damage to buildings.
The NTV broadcaster reported that a derelict and abandoned former residential building in this historic Fatih district, which houses the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque, had collapsed.
Kemal Cebi, the mayor of the Kucukcekmece district in western Istanbul, told local broadcaster NTV that there were “no negative developments yet” but he reported that there were traffic jams and that many buildings were already at risk due to the density of the area.
In Zeytinburnu district, some people were injured after jumping out of buildings, aayor Omer Arisoy told NTV.
Turkey is crossed by two major fault lines and earthquakes are frequent.
A 7.8 magnitude earthquake on February 6 2023, and a second powerful tremor that came hours later, destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of buildings in 11 southern and south-eastern Turkish provinces, leaving more than 53,000 people dead.
Another 6,000 people were killed in the northern parts of neighbouring Syria.
While Istanbul was not impacted by that earthquake, the devastation heightened fears of a similar quake, with experts citing the city’s proximity to fault lines.
In a bid to prevent damage from any future quake, both the national government and local administrations started urban reconstruction projects to fortify buildings at risk and started campaigns to demolish buildings at risk of collapse.
