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A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Turkey’s Mediterranean province of Antalya on Monday, shaking coastal areas of both Turkey and Greece, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).
Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) reported the quake at magnitude 4.9, while İstanbul’s Kandilli Observatory measured it at 5.2.
The USGS placed the magnitude at 5.1 and said the epicenter was offshore, about 25 kilometers from Antalya. The temblor occurred at 1:21 p.m. local time. No immediate damage or casualties were reported.
Earlier in the day, a magnitude 4.3 quake was recorded in the Konyaaltı district at 3:31 a.m. Local experts told Turkish media that the two tremors were not connected despite occurring hours apart.
Geologist Osman Bektaş said Antalya is bordered by active fault systems capable of producing earthquakes exceeding magnitude 6.
He referred to the Cyprus Arc, a major, active tectonic plate boundary in the eastern Mediterranean where the African Plate is sliding northward beneath the Eurasian Plate, as a key seismic source and noted that Monday’s later temblor was not an aftershock.
Geologist Okan Tüysüz also said the quakes were independent, adding that compression-type tremors of this kind occur periodically in the Gulf of Antalya.
“The region has a history of destructive earthquakes and tsunamis,” he said. “A magnitude 7 earthquake here could cause severe damage and trigger a tsunami. Aftershocks up to magnitude 4 remain possible.”
Antalya, one of Turkey’s most visited coastal destinations, lies near several active fault lines affecting the eastern Mediterranean.
Turkey is crisscrossed by several geological fault lines that have previously caused catastrophes in the country.
Two earthquakes in February 2023 in the southeast killed at least 53,000 people and devastated Antakya, site of the ancient city of Antioch.