24th September, 2019
A 4.6-magnitude earthquake hit Turkey’s largest city on Tuesday, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said that the quake took place at a depth of 5.3 kilometres in the Marmara Sea, off Silivri district on Istanbul’s European side.
State broadcaster TRT showed footage of a school evacuating students in Silivri and people running from a local shop in panic. The Sozcu daily said some schools across the city were evacuated due to rising security concerns.
At a depth of 5.36 km, the quake caused panic in the metropolis of 16 million, but no damage was detected so far, the Istanbul governor’s office said. The quake took place on the major North Anatolian fault line, followed by three aftershocks, according to TRT.
“This is still a reminder Istanbul has to be well-prepared for a major quake,” Yilmaz said.
Turkey has suffered devastating earthquakes in the past, including one near Istanbul in 1999 that killed more than 17,000 people in the greater region. In 1999, a strong earthquake shook the Kocaeli province, 100 km east of Istanbul, killing around 17,000 people.
Geologists have long been expecting a strong earthquake to hit Istanbul in the fault line passing under the Marmara Sea. Speaking to the NTV broadcaster, Serif Baris, a geophysics engineer, said the tremor is not a foreshock of the expected strong earthquake in Istanbul.