A powerful 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck the Marmara Sea near the western outskirts of İstanbul on Wednesday, shaking Turkey’s largest city and sending residents into the streets in fear, officials said.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya confirmed the quake in a post on X, saying it was centered off the coast of Silivri in the Marmara Sea and felt in surrounding provinces.
Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said the initial quake at 12:49 p.m. local time (0949 GMT) was followed by three aftershocks, ranging in magnitude from 4.4 to 4.9.
As buildings shook, panicked residents rushed outside. Crowds gathered in public spaces, staring at their phones for updates or calling loved ones, according to reporters at the scene.
“I just felt the earthquake. I’ve got to get out,” said a decorator working in an apartment near the city’s Galata Tower, visibly shaken as he exited the building. He declined to give his name.
The İstanbul Governor’s Office said there were no reports of collapsed buildings and urged the public to stay away from structures that might have been damaged.
“No serious incidents have been reported so far following the earthquake in İstanbul,” the municipality said in a statement on X.
The quake was also felt in parts of neighboring countries, including as far as the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, according to Agence France-Presse journalists.
İstanbul, home to more than 16 million people, sits near the North Anatolian Fault, a major seismic zone. Turkish geologists have warned for years that the city is at high risk for a major earthquake.
Turkey is among the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. In February 2023, two massive quakes in the country’s southeast killed more than 50,000 people and left millions homeless.
© Agence France-Presse