Buildings are destroyed as powerful 6-magnitude earthquake rattles western Turkey sending frightened residents running into the streets
- Quake struck five miles underground and rattled the southwestern city of Denizli
- No initial reports of casualties from magnitude 6.0 tremors, city mayor has said
- Earthquake happened just over 100 miles from the tourist hotspot Marmaris
An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 6.0 has hit western Turkey, damaging homes and causing some injuries.
The quake was centred on the town of Bozkurt, in Denizli province, which lies just over 100 miles from tourist hotspot Marmaris.
Scores of buildings are said to have been damaged and there are reports of people running into the streets in panic.
The Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD)said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.0 and struck at 2.25pm local time.
The Istanbul-based Kandilli seismology centre said the quake was less powerful, measuring it at 5.7.
The damage at the district governorate and municipality buildings after a 6 magnitude earthquake hit Turkey’s southwestern Denizli province today
AFAD said 23 people sought medical care or were taken to hospital after the quake.
Bozkurt’s mayor, Birsen Celik, told NTV television that the quake knocked down two houses in the town and residents escaped with slight injuries. Several other homes were damaged with cracked walls.
People ran out into the streets in panic, she said, adding that residents were being urged not to return to damaged homes.
Scores of houses were also damaged in the nearby town of Tutluca, but no one was hurt there, according to its mayor, Hudai Karasahin.
The quake also caused the minaret of a mosque to topple in the village of Agdan.
Television footage showed the earthquake interrupting a group of teenagers playing table tennis, with the youths rushing under the ping pong tables for safety.
A view of the fallen roof tiles of a building in Denizli province. An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 6.0 has hit western Turkey, damaging homes and causing some injuries
Another video showed a couple in Denizli caught up in the quake in the middle of their wedding ceremony.
The tremor was felt in the neighbouring provinces of Antalya, Mugla, Isparta and Burdur.
The mayor of Bozkurt, Birsen Celik, said the quake knocked down two houses in the town and damaged several other homes.
She said: ‘The earthquake lasted more than 15 or 20 seconds. ‘Several houses have been damaged, roofs have caved in and there are deep cracks in walls.
‘Thank God, despite the fact that one or two houses collapsed, there were no cases of death or serious injury.’
Turkey lies on major faultlines and has suffered several quakes in the west and southwest of magnitude 5 and above since the start of the year.
The country is about to mark 20 years since the devastating twin quakes in 1999, both over magnitude-7, that hit a highly populated zone in the northwest, leaving some 20,000 dead.
Turkey is prone to earthquakes. In 1999, a magnitude-7.4 quake killed more than 17,000 people in northwestern Turkey.