Five quakes rattle south Turkey, no injuries reported

Four of the earthquakes shook the Saimbeyli district in Turkey’s Adana province, with the tremors also felt in northern Syria.

ISTANBUL - Five shallow quakes rattled southern Turkey on Oct 4 with the tremors also felt in northern Syria, but caused no injuries or damage, the authorities on both sides said.

Three of them occurred during the early afternoon, with two more during the evening, Turkey’s AFAD disaster relief agency said on X, saying they caused “no adverse situation”.

The area is about 150km from the epicentre of two massive earthquakes in February 2023 that killed at least 53,000 people in Turkey and around 6,000 in Syria.

Four of them shook the Saimbeyli district in Adana province: a 4.8 magnitude quake at 2.19pm, one measuring 4.9 at 2.36pm, a third of 4.4 at 7pm and a fourth of 4.3 magnitude at 8.28pm, AFAD said.

There was also a 5.2 quake in the Sumbas district, about 80km further south, at 2.43pm.

In a statement on Telegram, Syria’s national earthquake centre said all five quakes had been felt in parts of northern Syria, without mentioning any injuries or damage.

Turkey is crisscrossed by several geological fault lines that have previously caused catastrophes in the country. AFP