5.8 magnitude earthquake shakes Istanbul, collapses the minaret of a mosque

[TomSea]

5.8 magnitude earthquake shakes Istanbul, collapses the minaret of a mosque
Associated Press Published 9:27 a.m. ET Sept. 26, 2019

STANBUL – A 5.8 magnitude earthquake shook Istanbul on Thursday, sending school children and residents into the streets and collapsing the minaret of a mosque in Turkey's commercial and cultural center.

Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority said the earthquake struck in the Sea of Marmara at 1:59 p.m. at 4.4 miles deep and was felt throughout the western Marmara region, which includes Istanbul.

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu said on Twitter that there were no reports of deaths from the quake.

Read more at: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/09/26/istanbul-earthquake-magnitude-5-8-turkey/3773252002/

The flipside is, they probably have hundreds of Mosques there but they have a real famous one.

[PeteS in CA]

The small area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea has two straits, with the Sea of Marmara between them. So this quake was quite close to Istanbul. A 5.8 quake is substantial, even by the standards of a country with excellent building codes and mostly modern buildings. I doubt Turkey's codes are that good, or if they are, not consistently enforced. And Istanbul has quite a stock of very old buildings. I would not be surprised if the death toll is substantial.