Earthquake with preliminary 5 magnitude shakes Istanbul, causing panic

ISTANBUL (AP) — A moderately strong earthquake shook Istanbul and other parts of northwestern Turkey on Thursday, Turkey’s emergency services said. The quake sent people running from buildings and forced evacuations from schools, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The temblor with a preliminary 5 magnitude was centered in the Sea of Marmara, off Tekirdag province, according to the Disaster and Emergency Management agency, AFAD. It struck at 2:55 p.m. local time (1155 GMT) at a preliminary depth of 6.71 kilometers (4.17 miles).

In Istanbul, a city of 16 million where the risk of a major earthquake remains a serious concern, some residents ran out of buildings in panic and students were evacuated from classrooms in some schools, the private NTV broadcaster reported.

The Istanbul governor’s office said that initial assessments showed no sign of damage.

In August, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck Sindirgi, in the northwestern province of Balikesir. One person died and dozens were injured. Since then, the region around Balikesir has been hit by smaller shocks.

Turkey sits on top of major fault lines and earthquakes are frequent.

In 2023, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake killed more than 53,000 people in Turkey and destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of buildings in 11 southern and southeastern provinces. Another 6,000 people were killed in the northern parts of neighboring Syria.