Istanbul has been rocked by a powerful 6.2 magnitude earthquake, causing citizens to rush out of their homes in panic.
Several shocks were felt in Turkey’s largest city, with the earthquake’s epicentre measured just 25 miles southwest of Istanbul in the Sea of Marmara.
The quake struck at 12.49pm during a public holiday when many children were out of school and celebrating in the streets. The quake forced authorities in Istanbul, which is home to 16 million people, to cancel the events.
See also: What are the biggest earthquakes in history?
The earthquake had a shallow depth of 10 kilometres (about 6 miles), according to the United States Geological Survey.
It was followed by several aftershocks, including one measuring 5.3. The disaster and emergency management agency urged residents to stay away from buildings.
The earthquake was felt in neighbouring regions and in the city of Izmir, some 340 miles south of Istanbul.
Footage captured by local TV channel CNN Turk showed the moment the earthquake was felt by presenters live on air.
Cameras shook for around 10 seconds as the quake struck.
Turkey's interior minister, Ali Yerlikaya, said authorities had not received reports of collapsed buildings.
He told HaberTurk television, however, there had been reports of damage to buildings.
Mayor Mehmet Ergun Turan of the historic Fatih district that houses the famed Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia told local media there was no damage or collapse reported, but one person was injured from jumping from a window in panic.
Kemal Cebi, the mayor of Kucukcekmece district in western Istanbul, told local broadcaster NTV there were "no negative developments yet" but reported traffic jams, and said many buildings were already at risk due to the area's density.
Turkey is crossed by two major fault lines, and earthquakes are frequent.
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake on February 6 2023 and a second powerful tremor that came hours later, destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of buildings in 11 southern and southeastern Turkish provinces, leaving more than 53,000 people dead.
Another 6,000 people were killed in the northern parts of neighbouring Syria.
While Istanbul was not impacted by that earthquake, 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, both the national government and local administrations started urban reconstruction projects to fortify buildings at risk and started campaigns to demolish buildings at risk of collapse.
