Mobile phone networks failed across İstanbul for several minutes after a powerful 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck off the city’s coast on Wednesday, cutting off communication just when millions tried to reach loved ones — a repeat of the widespread service outages seen during Turkey’s devastating 2023 earthquakes.
The quake, centered in the Marmara Sea near Silivri, shook İstanbul and nearby provinces, sending residents into the streets and triggering a surge in mobile traffic.
As in 2023, when two massive earthquakes killed more than 50,000 people in Turkey’s southeast, the country’s three main GSM operators — Turkcell, Türk Telekom and Vodafone — buckled under the load, leaving users unable to make calls or send messages for up to 15 minutes.
Social media filled with posts from frustrated users who said they could not contact family members or get reliable information during the critical moments after the tremor.
Footage from İstanbul showed large crowds gathered in panic, staring at their phones as mobile signals failed citywide.
“This has been happening for decades,” said television producer Armağan Çağlayan in a post on X. “It’s been 25 years since the 1999 earthquake and two years since Hatay, and still nothing has changed with the GSM operators.”
Calls for boycotts spread on X, with users criticizing the operators’ repeated failures and questioning why the market still lacks competition.
“Once there are real alternatives, no one will look back at these three,” one post read.
Despite repeated breakdowns during disasters, Turkey’s mobile operators continue to post record profits.
Turkcell, the country’s largest provider, reported a net profit of 23.5 billion Turkish lira ($730 million) in 2024, up from 5 billion in 2021. Türk Telekom followed with 8.4 billion lira in profits for 2024. Vodafone has not yet disclosed its annual results.