Turkey is in one of the world’s most active earthquake zones
The US Geological Service(USGS) says a 7.8 magnitude earthquake has hit Gaziantep in South East Turkey on Monday.
The quake struck at 04:17 am local time (0117 GMT) at a depth of about 17.9 kilometres (11 miles).
AFAD, the government’s disaster management agency however said that the quake’s magnitude was 7.4.
The USGS reported another shallow 6.7-magnitude quake occurring near the site of the first about 15 minutes after.
Sources said that the southern region of Gaziantep — one of Turkey’s key industrial and manufacturing hubs — borders Syria felt the tremors in Lebanon, Syria and Cyprus.
Turkish authorities have not yet reported any deaths or injuries, but videos posted on social media showed destroyed buildings in several cities in the southeast of the country.
Turkey is in one of the world’s most active earthquake zones.
Duzce was one of the regions hit by a 7.4-magnitude earthquake in 1999 — the worst to hit Turkey in decades.
That quake killed more than 17,000 people, including about 1,000 in Istanbul.
Experts have long warned a large quake could devastate Istanbul, which has allowed widespread building without safety precautions.
A magnitude-6.8 quake hit Elazig in January 2020, killing more than 40 people.
And in October that year, a magnitude-7.0 quake hit the Aegean Sea, killing 114 people and wounding more than 1,000.
