Huge 6.1 earthquake strikes holiday hotspot loved by Brits AGAIN as locals flee homes

Panic took hold in western Turkey as yet another strong earthquake hit the country loved by British tourists. A strong earthquake shook western Turkey on Monday, causing at least three buildings to collapse, officials said.

The magnitude 6.1 quake was centered in the town of Sindirgi in Balikesir province, according to the Disaster and Emergency Management agency, AFAD. It struck at 22:48 local time (1948 GMT) at a depth of 5.99 kilometers (3.72 miles.)

It was felt in Istanbul, and the nearby provinces of Bursa, Manisa and Izmir, Haberturk news channel reported.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said at least three buildings and a shop collapsed in Sindirgi.

"So far, we have not identified any loss of life, but we are continuing our assessment," Sindirgi's district administrator Dogukan Koyuncu told the state-run Anadolu Agency.

The private NTV television quoted the fire brigade as saying that three inhabited buildings, previously damaged by an earlier earthquake, had collapsed.

There were no immediate reports of casualties, but reports of terrified people fleeing their homes quickly emerged.

Sindirgi also was struck in August by a magnitude 6.1 earthquake, which killed one person and injured dozens of other people. Since then, the region around Balikesir had been hit by smaller shocks.

Turkey sits on top of major fault lines, and earthquakes are frequent.

In 2023, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake killed more than 53,000 people in Turkey and destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of buildings in 11 southern and southeastern provinces. Another 6,000 people were killed in the northern parts of neighboring Syria.