5.3 earthquake hits Aegean island Gökçeada

ISTANBUL

A 5.3-magnitude earthquake hit off the coast of Turkey’s Gökçeada Island in the Aegean Sea today at 8:33 a.m., according to the Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute of Istanbul’s Boğaziçi University.

The earthquake was felt across a large area including in a number of coastal cities of Marmara and Aegean Sea.

The earthquake was followed by 26 aftershocks fluctuating between magnitudes of 2.1 to 4.1, according to the Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD).

The AFAD also said in its statement that they had not received any negative reports from the region after the earthquake.

Istanbul, Çanakkale, Tekirdağ felt quake

Istanbul, Çanakkale, Tekirdağ, Bursa and Kocaeli residents felt the tremors, with people fleeing to the streets in Çanakkale in a panic.

Gökçeada Mayor Yücel Atalay said the earthquake was felt quite strongly on the island as it was close to the surface. “We have not encountered any casualties in the district after an initial check,” Mayor Yücel added. The locals were calm for a few hours after the earthquake, Mayor Yücel also said.

Seismologists Oğuz Gündoğdu and Doğan Perinçek have interpreted the tremor as “usual activity” caused by fault lines in the region.

The 5.3-magnitude earthquake occurred at a depth 9.8 kilometers, according to the Kandilli Observatory.

Yıldız Technical University Nature Science Research Center head Prof. Şükrü Ersoy said the earthquake was expected.

“This was an expected activity. The earthquake does not show us that this area’s stress is gone, on the contrary, it shows us that the area is active,” Ersoy told Anadolu Agency.