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A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck the Niksar district of Tokat in northern Türkiye early Friday, triggering panic among residents but leaving no immediate reports of serious damage or casualties, according to local authorities and emergency officials.
Data released by the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) showed that the tremor occurred at 3:35 a.m. local time at a depth of 6.37 kilometers (3.9 miles). The earthquake’s epicenter was located in Niksar, a district in Tokat province in the country’s Black Sea region.
The shaking was also felt across several neighboring provinces, including Samsun, Corum, Amasya, and Sinop, prompting some residents to leave their homes at night.
Footage shows scenes from Tokat’s Niksar district after a magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck northern Türkiye in the early hours of March 13, 2026. (Video via AA)
Authorities moved quickly to carry out emergency field inspections across the affected areas.
Tokat Governor Abdullah Koklu said local administrators and AFAD teams were deployed immediately after the quake to carry out preliminary damage assessments across districts and villages.
According to Koklu, early inspections did not reveal any major damage. Instead, officials reported minor structural issues, including plaster cracks in some schools and small-scale damage in a few buildings. More comprehensive surveys were expected once daylight allowed teams to examine the area in detail.
Officials in neighboring provinces where the tremor was felt also reported no significant damage.
Governors in Samsun, Amasya and Corum said that emergency units had checked the situation on the ground and had not received reports of casualties or major structural damage.
Local authorities in Tokat echoed the same message. Tokat Mayor Mehmet Kemal Yazicioglu said the earthquake had been felt across the region but added that no negative developments had been confirmed so far, with municipal teams continuing to monitor the situation.
At Aysel Nadide Basar Boarding Secondary School, small cracks and plaster damage were reported on the walls, according to local observations.
AFAD’s provincial office in Samsun confirmed that field scans were ongoing after the earthquake and reiterated that no serious negative situation had been reported across the affected provinces.
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