ISTANBUL — An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.2 shook Istanbul and other areas of Turkey on Wednesday, prompting widespread panic and scores of injuries in the city of 16 million people, though there were no immediate reports of serious damage.
At least 236 people were treated for injuries they suffered while trying to jump from buildings or for panic attacks – most of them in Istanbul, where residents are on tenterhooks because the city is considered at high risk for a major quake.
The earthquake had a shallow depth of 10 kilometers (about 6 miles), according to the United States Geological Survey, with its epicenter about 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of Istanbul, in the Sea of Marmara.
It was felt in the neighboring provinces of Tekirdag, Yalova, Bursa and Balikesir and in the coastal city of Izmir, some 550 kilometers (340 miles) south of Istanbul. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said the earthquake lasted 13 seconds and was followed by more than 100 aftershocks – the strongest measuring 5.9 in magnitude.
The quake started at 12:49 p.m. Wednesday, a public holiday, when many children were out of school and celebrating in the streets of Istanbul. Panicked residents rushed from their homes and buildings into the streets. Authorities urged residents to avoid entering buildings that might have been damaged and said sports halls and mosques would be open to house residents not wanting to spend the night in their homes.
More than 230 injured
“A total of 236 citizens were affected by panic attacks and from falls or from jumping,” Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu said. He said 173 of the injuries were in Istanbul while the rest were in surrounding provinces.
Authorities had received 378 reports of “structural damage” in various buildings, said Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum, adding that 12 buildings were evacuated as a precaution.
Only one building – a derelict, long-abandoned structure in the city’s historic Fatih district – had collapsed, officials said.
Many residents flocked to parks, schoolyards and other open areas to avoid being near buildings in case of collapse or subsequent earthquakes. Some people pitched tents in parks.
“Thank God, there does not seem to be any problems for now,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at an event marking the National Sovereignty and Children’s Day holiday. “May God protect our country and our people from all kinds of calamities, disasters, accidents and troubles.”
Leyla Ucar, a personal trainer, said she was exercising with her student on the 20th floor of a building when they felt intense shaking.
“We shook incredibly. It threw us around, we couldn’t understand what was happening, we didn’t think of an earthquake at first because of the shock,” she said. “It was very scary.”
Senol Sari, 51, told The Associated Press he was with his children in the living room of their third floor apartment when he heard a loud noise and the building started shaking. They fled to a nearby park where they “waited for it to pass,” Sari said.
They later were able to return home calmly, Sari said, but remain worried that a bigger quake will someday strike the city. “Our concerns continue,” he said.
‘My children were a little scared’
Cihan Boztepe, 40, hurriedly fled to the streets with his family to avoid a potential collapse of their building. Standing next to his sobbing child, Boztepe told the AP that in 2023, he was living in Batman province, an area close to the southern part of Turkey where major quakes struck at the time. Wednesday’s tremor felt weaker, and he wasn’t as scared.
“At first we were shaken, then it stopped, then we were shaken again,” he said. “My children were a little scared, but I wasn’t. We quickly gathered our things and went down to a safe place.”
Education Minister Yusuf Tekin announced that schools would be closed on Thursday and Friday in Istanbul but that “in line with the need for a safe space, our school gardens are open to the use of all our citizens.”
Urban reconstruction projects
Turkey is crossed by two major fault lines, and earthquakes are frequent.
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake on Feb. 6, 2023, and a second powerful tremor hours later, killed more than 53,000 people in Turkey and destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of buildings in 11 southern and southeastern provinces. Another 6,000 people were killed in the northern parts of neighboring Syria.
Istanbul was not impacted by that earthquake, but the devastation heightened fears of a similar quake, with experts citing the city’s proximity to fault lines.
In a bid to prevent damage from any future quake, the national government and local administrations started urban reconstruction projects to fortify buildings at risk and launched campaigns to demolish those at risk of collapse.
Jailed mayor expresses sadness
Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul who was jailed last month on corruption charges, released a statement through his lawyers, expressing his sadness at not being able to be with the city’s residents.
“As managers and urban planners who have dedicated their lives to disaster-focused planning in Istanbul and who have struggled for this purpose, my greatest sadness is that we can’t be with you,” the mayor said.
Many view the arrest of the politician, considered a key rival to Erdogan, as being politically motivated. The government insists the courts operate independently.
On Wednesday, long queues formed at gas stations as residents, planning to leave Istanbul, rushed to fill up their vehicles. Among them was Emre Senkay who said he might leave if a more severe earthquake strikes later in the day.
“My plan is to leave Istanbul if there is a more serious earthquake,” he said.
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Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey. Associated Press reporter Robert Badendieck in Canakkale, Turkey, contributed to this report.
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