A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 6.1 has rocked eastern Turkey and Syria, according to the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority.
Turkey’s Malatya province was shaken by the quake on Wednesday morning, with no damages or casualties yet reported.
It was felt in the cities of Diyarbakir, Elazig and Malatya, HaberTurk television reported.Â
In Diyarbakir, people left homes in panic, the report said.Â
Syria’s state news agency says the earthquake was felt in the provinces of Hasakah, Deir Al Zor and Aleppo.Â
The United States Geological Survey’s (USGS) interactive map displaying where the quake was felt in Turkey’s Malatya province
The USGC also uploaded a map showing the estimated intensity of the quakesÂ
The European Mediterranean Seismological Centre said the quake was at a depth of 5.6 miles below the earth.
It comes after a devastating earthquake struck Turkey and Syria last year, in the space of just 12 hours.Â
The first earthquake, measuring 7.8 magnitude, hit south-eastern Turkey, near the Syrian border, and the second one struck four kilometres outside Ekinozu in central Turkey.
It was the most devastating to hit earthquake-prone Turkey in more than 20 years and was as strong as one in 1939, the most powerful recorded there.
A few weeks later, on the 20th February, another large earthquake, measuring 6.3M on the Richter scale, hit the region.
More than 55,000 people are estimated to have lost their lives in the quakes, while many more were injured and displaced.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow.Â
