A moderately strong earthquake shook Istanbul and other parts of northwestern Turkey on Thursday, Turkey’s emergency services said. The quake sent people running from buildings and forced evacuations from schools, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The temblor with a preliminary 5 magnitude was centered in the Sea of Marmara, off Tekirdag province, according to the Disaster and Emergency Management agency, AFAD. It struck at 2:55 p.m. local time (1155 GMT) at a preliminary depth of 6.71 kilometers (4.17 miles).

In Istanbul, a city of 16 million where the risk of a major earthquake remains a serious concern, some residents ran out of buildings in panic and students were evacuated from classrooms in some schools, the private NTV broadcaster reported.

The Istanbul

See Full Page