World

6.1 earthquake hits Turkey, some buildings cave in; rescue ops begin

The quake was felt across several cities in the west of the country, including Istanbul and the tourist hotspot of Izmir, said officials, who are yet to comment on any potential damages or deaths

An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.1 struck western Turkey on Sunday, the country’s disaster management authority AFAD said, according to Reuters. AFAD reported that the quake happened at around 7:53pm local time (16:53 GMT) in Balikesir province, near Istanbul. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage in any of the affected provinces. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said in a post on X that AFAD emergency teams had started inspections in Istanbul and neighbouring provinces, adding that “no negative reports” had been received so far. AFAD said the earthquake struck at a depth of 11 kilometres (6.8 miles). The German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) measured the magnitude at 6.19 and the depth at 10 kilometres.