5.6 magnitude earthquake shakes Turkey and Greece

A magnitude 5.6 quake has hit east of the Greek island of Rhodes and south of the Turkish mainland, with tremors felt as far away as the Egyptian capital Cairo.

Turkish media report a 6.0 magnitude quake.The quake’s epicenter lies in the Mediterranean Sea, east of the Greek island of Rhodes and south of the Turkish mainland. The quake occurred around 15.55 local time (13.55 GMT) at a depth of 19.4 km. In the Turkish coastal town of Kalkan, the ground rumbled, spreading anxiety among residents and tourists. One panic-stricken woman broke her leg after jumping from a first floor balcony, the  Kalkan Turkish Local News website reports. The quake forced many people to go outside for safety. In supermarkets items were shaken from the shelves.    The tremor was felt along the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts in the Turkish provinces of Antalya, Mugla and other areas – and also in nearby Greek islands. Israel was also affected.No reports of deaths or damage in Greece and Turkey have followed thus far. No tsunami warning has been issued.The latest major earthquake shook Turkey in October 2011, as a powerful 7.1-magnitude seism hit near the eastern city of Van. Over 600 people were killed and over 4,000 others injured in the disaster. Some 60,000 people were left homeless.Earthquakes are a daily occurrence both in Turkey and Greece, which are criss-crossed by geological fault lines.