ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Over 25 people were hospitalized and at least four buildings collapsed following a 6.1 magnitude earthquake that struck the Sindigri district of Balikesir province in western Turkey late Monday, officials reported.

Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya on Tuesday said that they inspected three collapsed buildings and one workplace following the earthquake.

Yerlikaya told state media that the three buildings were vacant as they were damaged in an earlier earthquake, while a two-story shop was closed for the night.

“There is no one living in the buildings. The buildings were heavily damaged and evacuated. Four buildings have collapsed. We have no casualties so far,” Sindigri District Governor Dogukan Koyuncu told Anadolu Agency.

“All of our 26 citizens who were injured due to secondary reasons such as jumping and falling in the earthquake… were treated in our hospitals, and all our injured were discharged,” said Turkish Health Minister Kemal Memosoglu.

The earthquake struck at around 10:48 PM and was felt in Istanbul and Izmir as well, the country’s disaster and emergency management agency (AFAD) reported.

Sindigri is 138 kilometres northeast of Izmir and 341 kilometers south of Istanbul.

An earthquake of a similar magnitude hit the district on August 10, killing one person and injuring dozens. In early-July, another tremor hit the same region killing one and injuring 69 people. The country sits on the boundaries of three tectonic plates which makes it more susceptible to earthquakes.

A devastating 7.8 magnitude quake struck southern and central Turkey and northern and western Syria in February 2023, killing over 60,000 people and injuring more than 120,000, the vast majority of which were from Turkey.