ANKARA

Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said an earthquake took place in the Mediterranean Sea off southwestern Turkish shores on Tuesday.

In a Twitter post, AFAD said: “"#EARTHQUAKE: An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.4 occurred at 18.38 [1538GMT] in the Mediterranean Sea off [southwestern] Marmaris shores."

The disaster agency said it was following developments.

Esengul Civelek, the governor of coastal Mugla province, said the situation in the region was under control and no negativity had been observed so far, adding the quake occurred in the sea far off the Turkish coasts.

The AFAD later said the natural disaster took place 25 kilometers underwater.

Turkey has been hit by a series of earthquakes since the start of 2020 as a 5.4 magnitude quake jolted western province of Manisa last Wednesday and capital Ankara was rattled by a 4.5 magnitude quake on Thursday.

The worst of the quakes took place last Friday when eastern Elazig province was hit by a 6.8 magnitude earthquake which led to death of 41 people and injury of some 1,600 others. The tremors were also felt in neighboring countries, including Georgia and Syria.