7.8 magnitude earthquake rocks southern Turkey

< /p> UPDATE DAY

A 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit southern Turkey on Monday, near the southeast city of Gaziantep, the USGS seismological institute reported. 

The earthquake took place at 4:17 a.m. local time, at a depth of about 17.9 kilometers.

According to AFAD, the government agency for disaster management, the earthquake had a magnitude of 7.4.

The tremors were felt in Lebanon, Syria and Cyprus, according to AFP correspondents.

< p>Turkish authorities have not yet reported any deaths or injuries, but videos posted on social media showed destroyed buildings in several towns in the south-east of the country.

Turkey is located in one of the most active seismic zones in the world.

At the end of November, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck northwestern Turkey, injuring around 50 people and limited damage, according to the emergency services t urcs.

This same region of the North-West was hard hit in August 1999 by an earthquake of magnitude 7.4, which caused the death of 17,000 people, including a thousand in Istanbul.

In January 2020, an earthquake of magnitude 6.7 hit the provinces of Elazig and Malatya (east), killing more than 40 people. 

In October of in the same year, a magnitude 7 earthquake in the Aegean Sea left 114 dead and more than 1,000 injured in Turkey.