5.7-Magnitude earthquake hits Istanbul: 8 injuries reported

A 5.7-magnitude earthquake struck near Istanbul, the largest city of Turkey with 15 million people.

The seismic shock occurred at about 14:00 local time on Thursday, September 26, 2019. The quake struck at a depth of 12.6 kilometers and its epicenter was located 70 kilometers west of the city in the Marmara Sea. 

2 days earlier, the city was hit by a smaller shock (M 4.6) that raised the concerns about an upcoming stronger earthquake.

Shaking caused minor infrastructure damage and some communication issues. No casualties were reported, however, 8 people were treated for minor injuries. “Despite this earthquake having a magnitude that could be considered serious, we have not as yet received heartbreaking news, just some small damage,” President Tayyip Erdoğan, stated. 

2 minarets, one located in Istanbul’s Avcilar district and the other in the Sariyer district, partially collapsed according to reports.

Schools and hospitals were evacuated and people were warned not to return to their residences if they were damaged. “There will be aftershocks of this quake. What we ask from citizens is that they don’t enter damaged buildings,” Murat Nurlu, head of the earthquake department at Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD), commented. 

Indeed, a series of aftershocks followed the main incident with the largest of them being M 4.1. There was no subsequent damage reported.

Istanbul is located in an earthquake-prone region. The Marmara Sea is a transition zone between an extensional regime associated with the convergence of the African plate to the Eurasian plate to the west and the North Anatolian Fault Zone to the east. 

The city was struck by a devastating, M 7.4 earthquake, known as the Izmit earthquake, back in 1999. Its impact included buildings collapses, more than 17,000 fatalities and 43,000 injuries. "It was a small earthquake and there wasn't any extraordinary activity before it. Of course, people panicked remembering the big earthquake of 1999 but this was something that should not be worried. This is the regular activity of fault lines all across Turkey. Certainly, it should teach us one lesson and that is, never forget the fact that the earthquakes will occur here and we should take measures, like reinforcing the buildings we live and learn what to do in case of an earthquake," Fadime Sertçelik, Professor at Department of Geophysical Engineering, Kocaeli University, stated.

Click the video below to watch footage from the moment the earthquake struck Istanbul.