The magnitude of the earthquake was 5.9 on the Richter scale. The epicenter was in the village of Çolkaya in Duzce Province, about 20 miles east of Istanbul, according to the country’s authorities.
The earthquake could be felt in both Istanbul and the capital, Ankara.
Mayor Faruk Ozlu told NTV television that the earthquake caused power outages in the area and residents ran out of buildings.
The first images from the area show people sitting outside their homes wrapped in blankets, AFP wrote.
A court building in Duzce was damaged by the earthquake. No buildings have been reported to have collapsed.
Photo: AA/ABACA/Abaca
The authorities are still studying the extent of the damage
Health Minister Fahrettin Koca tweeted that 35 people were infected, 32 of them in Düzce province, one in Istanbul and two in neighboring provinces. Koca writes that one of them was seriously injured after jumping from a height.
70 aftershocks were recorded, according to Turkish authorities.
Schools in the area have been asked to remain closed.
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu visited the region. He said that so far there have been no reports of serious damage or collapse of buildings, according to Agence France-Presse.
The USGS seismological center reported that the magnitude of the quake was actually 6.1. The Turkish authorities measured the magnitude of the quake at 5.9. The epicenter was at a depth of 10 kilometers, 17 miles east of Istanbul.
It is located in an earthquake zone
Turkey is located in one of the most seismically active regions in the world.
In Duzce, about 800 people died when a powerful earthquake struck Turkey in 1999.
The earthquake was the worst in decades. In total, more than 17,000 people died, about 1,000 of them in Istanbul.
Experts have warned over time that Istanbul may experience a strong earthquake.
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