Magnitude 5.3 quake rattles southwestern Turkey

By Hamdi Celikbas

ANKARA (AA) - A magnitude-5.3 earthquake struck Turkey’s southwestern province of Mugla, the country's disaster agency said early Tuesday.

The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said the quake struck 11.4 kilometers (7.08 miles) below the surface of the Aegean Sea, 40 kilometers (24.8 miles) off the coast of Datca district.

It struck at 2214 GMT, AFAD announced, while reporting no casualties so far.

Turkey is crossed by fault lines and is prone to earthquakes.

Last October, a powerful 6.6 magnitude earthquake struck the country's third-largest city, Izmir, killing at least 115 people and injuring more than 1,000 others.​​​​​​​

In 1999, a magnitude-7.4 quake struck the industrial province of Kocaeli, leaving nearly 18,000 people dead and around 45,000 others injured.

Nearly 16 million people were affected and around 200,000 people were left homeless.

*Writing by Merve Berker