A powerful earthquake has struck off Turkey’s Aegean coast, north of the Greek island of Samos.
The 7.0 magnitude tremor was centred off Turkey’s Izmir province, the US Geological Survey said.
Turkey put the magnitude of the quake at 6.6, saying four people had died and 120 were injured in the city of Izmir. About 20 buildings collapsed.
The USGS said the quake – which was felt as far away as Athens and Istanbul – struck at a depth of 10km (six miles), although Turkish officials said it was 16km below ground.
Turkey and Greece both sit on fault lines and earthquakes are common.In Izmir, Turkey’s third largest city, many people were seen running out into the streets in panic and fear after the quake struck.
Videos have been posted on social media appearing to show the moment when one multi-storey building collapsed, the BBC’s Orla Guerin in Istanbul reports. Other footage shows local people scrambling over rubble looking for survivors.
There are reports of flooding in the city after the sea level rose, and some fishermen are said to be missing.
In Greece, a mini-tsunami flooded the port of Samos and a number of buildings were damaged.
Islanders were urged to stay away from coastal areas.
Reports said Friday’s quake was also felt on the Greek island of Crete.
In January more than 30 people were killed and more than 1,600 injured when an earthquake struck Sivrice in Turkey’s eastern Elazig province.
In July 2019, the Greek capital Athens was hit by a tremor that knocked out power to large parts of the city.
A powerful quake that struck the Turkish city of Izmit, near Istanbul, in 1999 killed about 17,000 people.
BBC
