By Sabiu Abdullahi
A powerful 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit the Sea of Marmara, near Istanbul, on Wednesday, prompting widespread panic as residents rushed out of buildings and gathered on the streets.
Authorities confirmed that no casualties or major damage had been recorded, although several aftershocks followed the main tremor.
The Turkish disaster management agency, AFAD, reported that the quake struck at 12:49 p.m. local time (0949 GMT) at a depth of nearly seven kilometers beneath the sea, just south of the city.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya stated on social media, “An earthquake of 6.2 magnitude occurred in Silivri, Sea of Marmara, Istanbul,” noting that the tremor was also felt in neighboring provinces.
According to AFAD, the earthquake was succeeded by eight aftershocks, with magnitudes ranging from 3.5 to 5.9.
The sudden shaking of buildings led people to evacuate and seek safety in open spaces. An AFP reporter witnessed crowds anxiously checking their phones and calling loved ones.
“I just felt the earthquake, I’ve got to get out,” said a decorator who had been working on the fourth floor of an apartment near Galata Tower.
He declined to be identified.State-run Anadolu Agency shared footage showing the minaret of a mosque swaying during the initial tremor in the Beylikduzu district.
Speaking to TRT public television, Yerlikaya confirmed that no buildings had collapsed.
“Until now, nobody has called the emergency line to report their house collapsing,” he said.
However, the Istanbul governor’s office urged people to stay away from structures that appeared to be compromised.
Turkey’s NTV television aired visuals of a three-storey building that had collapsed in Fatih district.
The structure was said to be abandoned and unoccupied for about ten years.President Recep Tayyip Erdogan responded to the incident by saying he was “following the developments closely.”
Yusuf, a street vendor, described the fear that gripped many residents. “We all panicked and just ran. There’s absolutely nothing else we can do,” he said.
The tremor was reportedly felt as far away as Bulgaria, according to AFP correspondents in Sofia.
Silivri, located on the western edge of Istanbul, is also home to the jail where Istanbul’s Mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, was recently detained amid a corruption case widely criticized as politically driven.
Students detained during related protests are also held there.Despite feeling the tremors, none of the detainees were harmed.
“The earthquake in Istanbul was most strongly felt in Silivri, but our children are fine. There is no problem at the prison—no parent should worry,” the Parents Solidarity Network posted on X.
Istanbul’s last significant earthquake occurred in November but caused no damage.
Experts have long warned that the city is at high risk of a major quake due to its location near the North Anatolian fault line, less than 20 kilometers away.
In 1999, over 20,000 people died when two massive quakes struck northwest Turkey, including areas of Istanbul, after the fault line ruptured.