Offshore quake sparks panic but no casualties in Turkey

ANKARA, Jan 24 (AFP) - An undersea earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale spread panic along parts of Turkey's Mediterranean coast overnight, but there were no reports of casualties or damage, officials said on Monday.
Many residents of the popular resort town of Kas were brought out into the streets when the quake hit at 00:36 am (2236 GMT on Sunday), at a point some 50 kilometres (30 miles) offshore, seismologists said.
The seismological institute in the French city of Strasbourg said the epicentre was at 36 degrees latitude north and 29.9 degrees of longitude east.
The Istanbul-based Kandilli seismological institute said there were no casualties or damage in the quake, Anatolia news agency reported.
But many local residents in Fethiye, another resort on the coast of southwestern Anatolia, spent the night outside for fear of aftershocks.
The region is also close to Greek territory. The small Greek island of Megisti is just off Kas, and the larger island of Rhodes is located further to the west.
Earthquakes are frequent in Turkey. In 1999 some 20,000 people were killed in two massive quakes in the northwest of the country.

01/24/2005 07:39 GMT - AFP