Powerful magnitude 5.8 earthquake shook Istanbul on Thursday, causing momentary panic across the city.
The Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) said the shallow quake struck the southwest of Istanbul in the Marmara Sea at 2:00 p.m. (GMT+3).
The tremor hit at a depth of 7 kilometres (4.34 miles), according to AFAD, but the Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute said the depth was 11.9 km.
Schools and hospitals were ordered to evacuate.
No casualties or major damage were immediately reported.
Governor Ali Yerlikaya later announced that all schools were out for the rest of the day. AFAD also strongly urged people not to go back into damaged buildings.
A 4.1 aftershock also struck the city some 25 minutes later.
Many other aftershocks of smaller magnitudes continued to shake the city.
Earlier Thursday, a magnitude 2.9 quake struck off the coast of Silivri near Istanbul at 12:00 p.m.
Three days ago Istanbul was awakened by a 4.6 magnitude temblor which struck the southwest of the city.
Turkey has suffered devastating earthquakes in the past, including one near Istanbul in 1999 that killed more than 17,000 people in the greater region.
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The country is among the world’s most seismically active zones as it is situated on several active fault lines, with the most potentially devastating one being the Northern Anatolia Fault (NAF), the meeting point of the Anatolian and Eurasian tectonic plates.
SOURCE: dailysabah.com