Southeast Turkey shaken by 5.0 magnitude earthquake

The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority, or AFAD, said Thursday there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage from the quake that hit at a depth of 20 kilometers (12 miles) at 8:45 a.m. (0545 GMT).

Turkey is crisscrossed by fault lines and was hit by two strong tremors this year -- one that hit the western port city of Izmir last month, killing 117 people, and another in Elazig province, killing 41 people.

The 7.0 magnitude quake also injured 994 people, the agency known by its Turkish acronym AFAD reported at the time.

The worst hit Turkish town was Bayrakli in Izmir where there was a mixture of celebration and sadness in November after a three-year-old girl named Elif Perincek and a 14-year-old named Idil Sirin were rescued from the rubble.

But both lost a sibling each to the disaster which struck on Friday afternoon in the Aegean Sea.

Two teenagers on their way home from school were also killed in Greece.

Read also: Two children pulled out alive in 'miracle' rescue days after Turkey quake

Turkey has reported over 1,464 aftershocks following the quake, including 44 that were above four in magnitude.

After dozens of buildings were damaged and the risk of repeated tremors, thousands of residents were forced to spend a fourth night in tents in Izmir.

The quake is the deadliest in Turkey this year after another disaster hit the eastern provinces of Elazig and Malatya in January, killing over 40 people.

At least 17,000 people died in a powerful earthquake in northwest Turkey in 1999.