TV news anchor keeps calm as earthquake strikes Istanbul

A news anchor has kept on reporting after an earthquake, which saw more than 150 hurt after they leapt out windows fearing buildings would collapse, struck during her broadcast in Istanbul.

A 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit the Sea of Marmara near Istanbul with its impact and that of multiple aftershocks forcing thousands out onto the streets in panic across Turkiye’s largest city.

A news anchor for CNN Istanbul was live on air when the quake struck and her shocked expression and impressive effort to remain calm have gone viral.

‼️ When you are live on CNN and a 6.2 #earthquake hits in the middle of news - Istanbul, #Turkeypic.twitter.com/eOylIhWpXG

— Shafek Koreshe (@shafeKoreshe) April 23, 2025

The quake was followed by more than 50 aftershocks, some very powerful, the interior minister said, although there were no reports of major damage or serious injury.

Istanbul governor Davut Gul said nobody had died in the quake or the aftershocks but confirmed that hospitals were treating “151 people injured when they jumped or tried to jump from a height in panic.”

The injuries were not life-threatening, he added.

The fear of those jumping out windows is understandable given more than 53,000 people were killed when an earthquake struck Turkiye on February 6, 2023.

“There is no destruction to residential buildings in the city but an abandoned building collapsed in Fatih District without causing any deaths or injuries,” the governor’s office said on X.

“An earthquake of 6.2 magnitude occurred in Silivri, Sea of Marmara, Istanbul,” Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on X, adding that it was felt in the surrounding provinces.

The initial quake struck at 6.59pm Wednesday AEST at a depth of 6.92 kilometres under the sea, which lies to the south of the city, and lasted 13 seconds, he said.

“51 aftershocks - the largest of which was 5.9 magnitude - had been recorded,” he said.

As buildings shook, people rushed onto the streets where crowds of worried-looking people stared at their mobile phones for information or made calls, an AFP correspondent said.

“I just felt an earthquake, I’ve got to get out,” a shaken-looking decorator, who did not want to give his name, said while fleeing a fourth-storey apartment where he was working near the city’s Galata Tower.

Local residents wait in a park in Istanbul following an earthquake. Picture: AFP

Footage posted by the state news agency Anadolu showed the minaret of a mosque in the Beylikduzu district just west of the historic peninsula swaying during the initial quake.

But there were no reports of other buildings collapsing in the sprawling city of 16 million people, Yerlikaya told TRT public television.

Schools and universities, which were closed on Wednesday when Turkiye was marking National Sovereignty Day, would remain closed until the weekend, the education ministry said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he was “following the developments closely.”

Originally published as TV news anchor keeps calm as earthquake strikes Istanbul