Magnitude 6.1 earthquake hits western Turkey, causing buildings to collapse
A strong earthquake shook western Turkey on Monday, causing at least three buildings to collapse, officials said. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The magnitude 6.1 quake was centred in the town of Sindirgi in Balikesir province, according to the Disaster and Emergency Management agency, AFAD. It struck at 11.48pm local time (5.48am Tuesday AEDT) at a depth of 5.99 kilometres.
It was felt in Istanbul, and the nearby provinces of Bursa, Manisa and Izmir, Haberturk news channel reported.
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Some buildings have collapsed. AA
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said at least three buildings and a shop collapsed in Sindirgi.
“So far, we have not identified any loss of life, but we are continuing our assessment,” Sindirgi's district administrator Dogukan Koyuncu told the state-run Anadolu Agency.
The private NTV television quoted the fire brigade as saying that three inhabited buildings, previously damaged by an earlier earthquake, had collapsed.
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Local media captured initial damage from the earthquake. AA
Sindirgi also was struck in August by a magnitude 6.1 earthquake, which killed one person and injured dozens of other people. Since then, the region around Balikesir had been hit by smaller shocks.
Turkey sits on top of major fault lines, and earthquakes are frequent.
In 2023, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake 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 neighbouring Syria.
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