A POWERFUL 6.2-magnitude earthquake has rocked Turkey’s capital Istanbul.
Panicked residents were seen fleeing buildings and calling loved ones as the quake hit the city.
X/QUSAY_NOOR_The earthquake was felt in several neighbouring regions[/caption]
People were seen evacuating as the quake hit and rocked buildings in the city
GettyPeople leave the buildings in panic and call their loved ones after 6.2 magnitude earthquake jolts Istanbul[/caption]
GettyPeople were seen evacuating as the quake hit and rocked buildings in the city[/caption]
Footage inside an office building showed desks and chairs shaking as people evacuated.
Other videos showed CNN Turk’s broadcast being interrupted by the quake and people screaming in horror and running onto the streets.
The 6.2-magnitude earthquake had a shallow depth of 10 kilometres in the Sea of Marmara off Istanbul, the United States Geological Survey said.
But the initial quake by three others – with magnitudes of 4.4 to 4.9 – in Istanbul’s Büyükçekmece district, Turkey’s disaster agency said.
Tremors were also felt in several neighbouring regions, reports said.
Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality said there were no cases of serious damage after the earthquake in the sprawling city of 16 million people.
“Until now, we have no information about any buildings collapsing,” the regional governor’s office said.
But a top professor from Istanbul Dr Süleyman Pampal warned that stronger earthquakes could follow and bring devastation to the region.
Broadcaster TGRT reported that one person had been injured as a result of jumping off a balcony during the quake – which occurred during a public holiday in Turkey.
As buildings shook, people rushed onto the streets where crowds of worried-looking people stared at their mobile phones for information or made calls.
A decorator who rushed out of a fourth-floor apartment said: “I just felt earthquake, I’ve got to get out.”
The tremors could reportedly be felt as far away as Bulgaria.
Turkey is crossed by two major fault lines, and earthquakes are frequent.
Just two years ago, 60,000 people had died in southern Turkey and northern Syria after a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit the country.
Terrifying footage showed a massive chasm in the Earth‘s crust that was left behind by the devastating earthquake that struck.
Harrowing earthquake images showed mass graves marked with just numbers after it became impossible to identify all bodies.
Desperate survivors made homeless by the quake are living in freezing conditions after their homes were destroyed.
The earthquake also sparked a 100ft inferno after a major gas pipeline burst.
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