Most of the injuries occurred when local residents jumped out of their windows in fear at the tremor, which the Istanbul seismological institute timed at 3:40 am (0040 GMT).

However several houses were reported to have collapsed in Seferihisar, a coastal town not far from Izmir. It was not known whether there were casualties there.

The quake was also reported by the seismological observatory in Athens, which estimated its intensity at 5.2 points on the Richter scale.

Turkey's Anatolia news agency said some 90 local residents in Izmir jumped out of windows, and hundreds stayed outside as aftershocks continued.

The Athens observatory said no casualties were reported in Greece. It situated the epicentre of the quake at a point under the Aegean Sea, 267 kilometres (166 miles) east of Athens and 30 kilometres north of the island of Samos.

burs/ds/sjw

SPACE.WIRE