Earthquake of magnitude 6.1 strikes western Turkey, disaster authority says

An earthquake of magnitude 6.1 struck western Turkey on Sunday, the country’s AFAD disaster management authority said, while local media said the quake was felt across multiple provinces.

AFAD said the quake occurred at around 7:53pm local time in the Balikesir province, near Turkey’s biggest city Istanbul, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage in any of the affected provinces.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on X that emergency teams from AFAD had started inspections around Istanbul and the neighboring provinces but that no negative reports had come through so far.

AFAD said the quake struck at a depth of 11 km (6.8 miles), while the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) registered the earthquake’s magnitude at 6.19 and a depth of 10 km.

Turkey is crisscrossed by several geological fault lines which have previously caused catastrophes in the country.

A quake in February 2023 in the southwest killed at least 53,000 people and devastated Antakya, site of the ancient city of Antioch.

More recently, a 5.8-magnitude tremor in the same region resulted in one death and injured 69 people at the beginning of July.