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Aegean earthquake rattles western Turkey

24 May 2014 13:00 (UTC +04:00)

The temblor measured 6.5, according to Istanbul's Kandilli Observatory, Turkey's main seismic monitoring institute.

The U.S. Geological Survey, meanwhile, said a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of northern Greece some 77 km south-southwest of Alexandroupolis at a depth of 10 km

The tremor was felt on the Greek islands of Lemnos and Samothrace as well as along the nearby western coast of Turkey, but was not reported to have caused any damage.

People rushed to the streets from their homes in western Turkish provinces, including Istanbul, Ä°zmir, Denizli and Antalya.

The mining disaster-struck town of Soma in the western province of Manisa also felt the earthquake strongly with several people rushing to the streets in panic.

Although the governors of Istanbul and Çanakkale, in separate statements, said there were no casualties or damage in their provinces, 30 people in Çanakkale and five people in TekirdaÄŸ were reportedly injured after jumping out of their apartment windows.

The GSM networks collapsed due to overcapacity after the quake but the services were restored later.