Image source, Getty Images

As we've been reporting, a series of earthquakes have struck near Istanbul, shaking buildings in Turkey's largest city and prompting people to flee apartment blocks.

At 12:49 local time (10:49 BST), a 6.2 magnitude quake in the Sea of Marmara triggered panic in Turkey's largest city.

Tremors were felt in neighbouring provinces and in the city of Izmir, some 550km (340 miles) south of Istanbul. There have been scores of aftershocks too.

So far, there are no reports of major damage, but one abandoned building in the central Fatih district has collapsed.

Officials say at least 151 people are being treated in hospital after jumping from high places due to the panic caused.

We're now pausing our live coverage, here's our news story which contains everything you need to know.

Fatima Çelik
BBC Turkish, reporting from Istanbul

Although the earthquakes hit Istanbul on a weekday afternoon, Wednesday is a national holiday here, so schools, universities and public institutions were closed.

This meant that more people than usual were at home when the quake struck.

Worried about aftershocks and whether buildings were safe, hundreds of residents have decided to spend the night outdoors.

In Beşiktaş, one of the city's busiest neighbourhoods, people have gathered in open spaces like the main square.

Selim Ustaoğlu, a university student, was in his dorm room when the tremors began.

"At first I thought I was going to faint," he says. "Then I realized it was an earthquake. I yelled to alert others and ran outside."

He packed a small bag with essentials like a charger, toothbrush and his favourite sweater before heading to the square. "I'm staying here tonight," he says.

"I was in the supermarket with my family when everything started to shake," says Zeynep Akıncıoğlu, another student. "We rushed outside. I don't feel safe going back inside, our building doesn't look strong."

Omar Syed, who is originally from India and has lived in Istanbul for 10 years, says it was the strongest quake he has ever experienced.

"My wife and I were having brunch when it started. We left our building immediately," he says. "You never really feel prepared for something like this."

A woman holidaying in Istanbul with her family tells the BBC that the building she was staying in "started to shake quite violently for what seemed like about five minutes", around Wednesday lunchtime.

Caroline and David Warburton, from Rugby in the UK, are visiting with their two children.

The family - who have been staying on the eighth floor of an apartment block - soon realised it was an earthquake, so gathered their passports and phones and rushed out of the building.

Caroline says children were crying as residents ran down the stairs. They fled to a local park, along with many others, to try and get away from high-rise buildings.

“The children say they could see cracks in the building, and there is a lot of traffic, sirens and fire engines,” Caroline says.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu, who was arrested last month and placed in a high-security jail, says his "greatest sadness" is that he can't be with the city's residents today.

Imamoğlu - a key rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan - is being held on corruption and terrorism charges, which he denies.

Turkey's opposition has condemned his arrest as a "coup attempt against our next president".

In a post on X via his lawyer, Imamoğlu says: "As managers and urban planners who have dedicated their lives to disaster-focused planning in Istanbul and who have struggled for this purpose, my greatest sadness is that we can't be with you."

"The issue of earthquakes is greater than winning elections," he says, adding: "We urgently need unity, solidarity and common sense."

Having evacuated their buildings, we're seeing images of people putting up tents in parks in Istanbul's Bağcılar district.

The city's residents have long feared a major earthquake, and scientists have been warning that one might hit for some time.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Duru Yunek

Duru Yunek assumed she was fainting when she started to feel shaky in the middle of her morning shower - but after hearing loud bangs from outside, quickly realised her entire home was moving.

She says her mobile phone network cut out as soon as the earthquake hit, and she couldn’t reach her family and friends.

“I was really panicked because I thought it was the major earthquake that we’ve all been expecting in Istanbul,” she tells the BBC World Service's OS.

“This is a wake up call,” Yunek says. “I wasn’t prepared, my family wasn’t prepared. We just froze.”

Orla Guerin
Reporting from Istanbul

The pavement cafes in my neighbourhood are full of customers who aren’t ready to go back inside yet. Some returned home earlier, only to leave again.

When I went back to my flat briefly to collect some broadcasting equipment, there was another tremor as soon as I got through the door.

It lasted only a few seconds, and was much milder than the major earthquake earlier - one of the strongest to hit the city in recent years, according to Turkey's disaster agency.

There are no reports of deaths or serious injuries.

On the streets you can hear the buzz of phones – many people are still getting calls from loved ones to check they are OK. But shops and restaurants remain open, and the city is returning to its normal noisy rhythm.

There is a sense here that the city has had a lucky escape, because the earthquakes were offshore in the Sea of Marmara.

But everyone knows that more quakes may come.

Some here keep an “earthquake bag” ready, by the front door, with essentials, in case they have to run from their homes.

One neighbour told me she was heading home, to pack one.

Schools in Istanbul will be closed on Thursday and Friday, Education Minister Yusuf Tekin has announced.

He adds that no serious incidents have been reported at any schools in the city, and that school gardens will be open to members of the public to be used as safe spaces.

A total of 51 aftershocks have been recorded following the powerful 6.2 magnitude earthquake which hit Istanbul earlier, according to Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya.

The strongest of those was 5.9 magnitude, he says.

Yerlikaya adds that the 6.2 magnitude earthquake was recorded approximately seven kilometres underground and lasted 13 seconds.

Turkey's emergency call centre has so far received over 6,000 calls, he says, with most people contacting the line for information.

Earlier we reported that the Istanbul governor's office said 151 people had been injured after jumping from height in panic after the earthquake.

Fatima Çelik
BBC Turkish, reporting from Istanbul

When the earthquakes hit Istanbul’s central district of Beşiktaş, loud screams came from the houses.

People didn’t know what to do and ran outside in panic.

Now, you can see many of them waiting on the streets in their pyjamas, holding bags and pets.

Everyone is on their phone, trying to reach their loved ones. The traffic is jammed. Fear is written on every face.

At least 151 people have been injured after jumping from high places due to panic caused by the earthquakes, Istanbul's governor's office says.

In a post on X, it adds there have been no recorded fatalities, and no residential buildings have collapsed.

An abandoned building in Istanbul's Fatih district collapsed, it says, but no deaths or injuries have been recorded as a result.

Energy and gas supplies, drinking water and sewage infrastructure are also unaffected, it adds.

Image source, Reuters

While we wait for more details, let's look back at the powerful earthquakes that struck southern Turkey and Syria in early 2023.

In February 2023, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit south-eastern Turkey, close to the Syrian border, killing tens of thousands and injuring many more.

The quake struck near the city of Gaziantep and was quickly followed by several aftershocks, including one almost as big as the first.

It was so destructive because it broke along around100km (62 miles) of fault line, causing major damage to buildings nearby.

We're now hearing from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is speaking about the quakes at a children's festival in Ankara, the country's capital.

He says search efforts are ongoing and he's following the situation closely, adding that ministers earlier told him that there were "no problems" so far.

We’ve now got more images showing what the streets look like after the earthquake hit.

From what we can see, there’s a large crowd on the street. Some people are sitting on the ground, while others are making phone calls.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Burak Abatay
BBC Turkish, reporting from Istanbul

I was in Pendik, one of the large districts on the Asian side of Istanbul, when the earthquake hit.

The 6.2 magnitude quake was the most terrifying experience my father – who has limited mobility – and I have had in a long time.

Everyone in our building rushed outside. While we were still trying to process what had happened, we felt another tremor. People panicked – grabbing their pets, holding their children, helping the elderly.

Istanbul is huge, and people I’ve spoken to say there are too few safe open spaces to shelter in during a disaster.

One person asked: “What will we do if there’s an even bigger earthquake? Where will we go?”

Another, worried about the condition of her very old apartment, said: “I probably shouldn’t go back in tonight. But what am I supposed to do?”

We're now seeing pictures of a partially collapsed abandoned building in Istanbul's Fatih district after a series of earthquakes.

It’s not yet known if there are any casualties.

Authorities are urging people not to go near buildings that could be damaged.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, CNN Turk/ X

Today's earthquakes struck during a live TV interview on CNN Turk, with presenter Meltem Bozbeyoğlu staying on air as the studio shook.

Visibly anxious and out of breath, Bozbeyoğlu says: "We felt it terribly."

She then asks someone through her earpiece to call her mother.

"I'm 32 years old and this is the first time I've experienced such a big earthquake," she says.

She leaves her mother a message: "Can you please reach me on WhatsApp."

"I was frightened, I apologise if I made you panic," she tells viewers.

You can watch the clip here, external.

Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

Image source, Getty Images

Istanbul sits on the North Anatolian fault line so it is vulnerable to earthquakes. The city has seen deadly tremors before and its residents have long feared an even bigger one.

The Kandilli observatory has put the risk of Istanbul experiencing a 7-magnitude quake by 2030 at 64%.

In 1999, a 7.4-magnitude quake claimed 17,000 lives and last year Turkey's environment minister warned that Istanbul did not have the capacity to withstand another one.

"One in every five houses in Istanbul, almost 1.5 million, are considered structurally unstable," said Murat Kurum. The environment minister recently spoke of fighting earthquakes as a matter of national security.

The devastating twin quakes in south-eastern Turkey and Syria in February 2023 were of 7.6 and 7.7 in magnitude and left 55,000 people dead.

Turkish geologist and earthquake expert Naci Görür says today’s earthquakes happened on the Kumburgaz fault.

The Kumburgaz and Adalar faults are the closest to Istanbul, and both are key to the larger earthquake that has long been expected in the city.

Görür says in a post on X that today’s earthquakes are "not the big earthquakes we expect", which he thinks will be above magnitude seven, but they do add to the stress on the Kumburgaz fault and make it more likely to break.

He calls on the government, Istanbul municipality and the public to work together to prepare the city for earthquakes.

The map below shows the first three earthquakes that struck Istanbul's Silivri and Buyukcekmece districts earlier today.

They happened in the Sea of Marmara, to the west of the city.

Image source, bbc