Two 5.2-Magnitude Quakes Rattle Northwestern Türkiye

A 5.2-magnitude earthquake struck the Gemlik bay area of northwestern Türkiye on a Tuesday evening, according to Istanbul's Kandilli Observatory. No injuries or structural damage were immediately reported.

Residents of Gemlik, located roughly 100 kilometers south of Istanbul, rushed into the streets in alarm. The tremor was strong enough to be felt in Istanbul as well. One Istanbul resident described scrambling for cover beneath a table.

A separate 5.2-magnitude quake then struck Manyas, in Balikesir province, also in the northwest, on Friday night. That tremor likewise caused no damage, though it rattled people as far away as Istanbul.

Türkiye sits atop several major fault lines and experiences earthquakes regularly. The country's vulnerability was underscored by two powerful quakes in the northwest in August and November 1999, which together killed around 20,000 people.

Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in October 2006, in its own words.