{"id":1418,"date":"2025-04-23T12:03:08","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T12:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/?p=1418"},"modified":"2025-04-29T13:06:46","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T13:06:46","slug":"is-it-safe-to-travel-to-turkey-uk-government-warning-after-6-2-magnitude-earthquake-in-istanbul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/23\/is-it-safe-to-travel-to-turkey-uk-government-warning-after-6-2-magnitude-earthquake-in-istanbul\/","title":{"rendered":"Is it safe to travel to Turkey? UK government warning after 6.2 magnitude earthquake in Istanbul"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\"Istanbul\t<\/div>
Buildings shook in Istanbul during a 6.2 magnitude earthquake on Wednesday (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Istanbul<\/a> has been rocked by a series of earthquakes<\/a>, something scientists have been warning about for years. But if you have holidays booked, is it still safe to travel?<\/p>\n

Buildings shook and people fled onto the streets of Turkey<\/a>\u2019s biggest city after three consecutive earthquakes \u2013 as strong as 6.2 magnitude \u2013 hit before 1pm local time on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

More than 150 people were hospitalised with injuries sustained while jumping from buildings. The Istanbul governor\u2019s office said: \u2018Due to panic, 151 of our citizens were injured from jumping from heights. <\/p>\n

\u2018Their treatments are ongoing in\u00a0hospitals<\/a>, and they are not in life-threatening condition.\u2019<\/p>\n

The earthquakes hit the western outskirts of Istanbul, a suburban area that is far from the city centre but popular with tourists in the spring<\/a> and summer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The most powerful 6.2 magnitude quake hit the coast of the Silivri district around 12.49pm local time (10.49pm BST).<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\"A\t<\/div>
Wednesday\u2019s earthquakes shook the western outskirts of Istanbul (Picture: Metro)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Its epicentre was 40km south of Istanbul, around 10km beneath the Sea of Maramara, but it was close enough to send shockwaves through the city that is home to a fifth of Turkey\u2019s population.<\/p>\n

The shocks were felt as far as Greece<\/a>, Bulgaria<\/a> and Romania<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Live TV captured the moment CNN T\u00fcrk anchor Meltem Bozbeyoglu realised<\/a> what was happening.<\/p>\n

The BBC<\/a>\u2019s senior international correspondent Orla Guerin, who lives in Istanbul, said she has never felt an earthquake so powerful in six years of living in the city. <\/p>\n

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality said there were no \u2018serious cases\u2019 in the earthquake in a statement made on its social media accounts.<\/p>\n

Kemal Cebi, the mayor of the Kucukcekmece district in western Istanbul, told local broadcaster NTV that there were \u2018no negative developments yet\u2019 but he reported that there were traffic jams and that many buildings were already at risk due to the density of the area.<\/p>\n

Earthquakes in Turkey<\/h2>\n

Turkey is crossed by two major fault lines and in some parts of the country, earthquakes are frequent.<\/p>\n

Scientists have been warning that a major quake could hit Istanbul for years. <\/p>\n

Anxiety around earthquakes has run high in Turkey since 2023, when a series of massive shocks<\/a> killed more than 55,000 people in southeastern parts of the country and neighbouring Syria<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\"Thousands\t<\/div>
Smoke billows from the scene of collapsed buildings in Hatay, Turkey after a powerful earthquake in February 2023 (Picture: Burak Kara\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake on 6 February 2023, and a second powerful tremor that came hours later, destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of buildings in 11 southern and south-eastern Turkish provinces, leaving more than 53,000 people dead.<\/p>\n

Another 6,000 people were killed in the northern parts of Syria.<\/p>\n

Whole neighbourhoods were flattened<\/a> and people slept outside in fear of aftershocks for weeks.<\/p>\n

While Istanbul was not impacted by that earthquake, the devastation heightened fears of a similar quake with experts citing the city\u2019s proximity to fault lines.<\/p>\n

In a bid to prevent damage from any future quake, both the national government and local administrations started urban reconstruction projects to fortify buildings at risk and started campaigns of demolishing buildings at risk of collapse.<\/p>\n

Turkish geologist Naci G\u00f6r\u00fcr says the tremors are not the big earthquakes experts have long feared. In a post on X, he wrote that he believes they will be above magnitude 7.<\/p>\n

He called on the government to do more to prepare Istanbul for potential disasters, saying Wednesday\u2019s events place added stress on the Kumburgaz\u00a0 faultline, making it more likely to break.<\/p>\n

Travel advice for Turkey<\/h2>\n

The UK Foreign Office<\/a> issued a travel warning for British citizens late on Wednesday afternoon. <\/p>\n

It said: \u2018A 6.2-magnitude earthquake occurred in the Sea of Marmara near Istanbul, on 23 April 2025. For the latest information, visit\u00a0Turkey\u2019s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority\u2019s (AFAD) earthquake page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2018Follow advice from local authorities, tour operators and accommodation providers.\u00a0See the US Federal Emergency Management Agency guidance about what to do\u00a0before, during and after an earthquake<\/a>.\u2019<\/p>\n

As it stands, the FCDO\u00a0also advises against all travel to within 10km of the border with Syria due to fighting and a heightened risk of terrorism.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\"People\t<\/div>
People call loved ones after the 6.2 magnitude quake shook Istanbul this morning (Picture: Anadolu)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It also warns of unrest linked to demonstrations and protests that have taken place across the country <\/a>in recent weeks.<\/p>\n

Last month, hundreds of thousands took to the streets to protest the arrest of Istanbul\u2019s mayor.<\/p>\n

Like with any country, the Foreign Office advises British nationals to stay vigilant when abroad.<\/p>\n

A Foreign Office spokeswoman told Metro<\/strong> it is \u2018monitoring\u2019 the ongoing situation in Turkey and keeps its travel advice under \u2018constant review\u2019.<\/p>\n

Metro<\/strong> spoke to Pelin Bengu, general manager at Intrepid Travel<\/a> Turkey who was on the ground in Istanbul when the quakes struck. We asked what travellers should know about their refund rights, and if they have the right to cancel a trip. <\/p>\n

Pelin said: \u2018Unless the Foreign Office changes its advice for travel to Turkey, normal booking conditions will apply for people travelling to the country. <\/p>\n

\u2018If you\u2019re concerned about travelling to Turkey, it\u2019s best to contact your travel agent or tour operator for advice.\u2019<\/p>\n

What to do if you\u2019re caught in an earthquake abroad<\/h2>\n

If an earthquake strikes, the FCDO says you should\u00a0drop\u00a0to the ground,\u00a0cover\u00a0<\/strong>your head and\u00a0hold\u00a0on to something stationary.<\/p>\n

If you are inside a building, you are advised to stay where you are. Avoid sheltering under door frames.<\/p>\n

If you are near the ocean, the advice will always be to move to higher ground.<\/p>\n

As aftershocks can occur, the FCDO recommends following local advice regarding evacuation or sheltering in place after an initial earthquake.<\/p>\n

The FCDO will set up a specific crisis response to help British nationals who might be affected. This can include a dedicated hotline or online registration where you can apply for assistance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Buildings shook in Istanbul during a 6.2 magnitude earthquake on Wednesday (Picture: Getty Images) Istanbul has been rocked by a series of earthquakes, something scientists have been warning about for years. But if you have holidays booked, is it still safe to travel? Buildings shook and people fled onto the streets of Turkey\u2019s biggest city […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1420,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1418"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1425,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1418\/revisions\/1425"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}