Istanbul earthquake: Powerful 4.8-magnitude quake strikes Turkey’s biggest city

Concerned residents describe tremors as shaking buildings

Istanbul (pictured) has been struck by an earthquake (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

An earthquake has hit Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul.

A seismic event measuring 4.8 magnitude struck 63 kilometres west of the city at 4:37pm local time, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre said.

Concerned residents reported feeling tremors strong enough to shake buildings, although no destruction or casualties were reported.

The city’s mayor Ekrem Imamoglu confirmed the magnitude and said authorities were not aware of any negative impacts.

He said the event in the Marmara Sea occurred at a depth of 16 kilometres.

Turkey is crossed by fault lines and is prone to earthquakes.

Experts at Istanbul Technical University, Ankara University and the Kandilli Observatory have previously warned that Istanbul and the Marmara region could see an earthquake of similar magnitude in the future, with some experts warning there is a high chance of it occurring in the next 20 years.​

As a result, smaller quakes are known to stoke residents’ fears that a larger event could follow.

Although in the two decades since 1999’s disaster, buildings codes have been tightened and laws requiring earthquake insurance have been passed, some warn that poor urban planning means the city is still unprepared.

When Istanbul was struck by a magnitude 5.8 quake in September, injuring several people and damaging buildings, one Turkish commentator claimed it sparked “the widespread realisation that there are woefully insufficient open spaces to go to in the event of an evacuation”.

“We are woefully unprepared for the Big One in Istanbul,” said Can Okar, a well-known financial strategist.

Mr Imamoglu said the state weather service AKOM was closely monitoring the post-earthquake process, adding: “As we have always mentioned, the earthquake is the most important agenda of our city.”