Eastern Turkey rattled by magnitude 5.9 quake

ISTANBUL — Many areas of eastern Turkey were shaken up by a 5.9-magnitude quake on Wednesday although there were no immediate reports of injuries, officials said.

The tremor happened at 10:46 am in Kale in Malatya, a province that was badly hit by the violent 7.8-magnitude earthquake which struck on February 6, 2023, killing more than 53,500 people in Turkey and almost 6,000 in neighbouring Syria. 

"For now, there has been no loss of life nor destruction of property following the magnitude 5.9 earthquake," the state's AFAD disaster management agency wrote on X. 

Shortly afterwards, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said three buildings had "partially collapsed" in three separate areas and that the emergency services had received several dozen calls for help.

Local officials in Malatya also said there were no "negative developments" to report at this stage, although the provincial governor said all primary and secondary schools would be closed for the day. 

The tremor was strongly felt in several large cities in the region, including Diyarbakir which lies some 140 kilometres to the southeast, according to AFP correspondents on the ground. 

On feeling the quake, residents in several cities immediately rushed into the streets, according to images broadcast by Turkish television stations.