A 5.9-magnitude earthquake partly collapsed some buildings and one mosque in western Turkey, killing at least three people and injuring nearly 100 people.

The quake that struck at 11:15pm (2015 GMT) on Thursday, sent terrified residents running from their homes before midnight. It was centered in the town of Simav, the Istanbul-based Kandilli Observatory said.Two people, including one who jumped out of a window in panic, were killed in Simav. An elderly woman died of a heart attack in another town, Inegol, authorities said.Fifteen others were treated at hospitals in the neighboring province of Usak, said Seracettin Com, a senior health official.

Bilgin Turkmentepe, a member of the search and rescue group Akut, said some elderly people did not notice the cracks at one mosque at dawn and only left morning prayers after their warnings.


Many residents spent the rest of the night in their cars or in the streets as authorities cautioned them against re-entering their homes. The Red Crescent set up soup kitchens and dispatched tents to the area.The quake was followed by about 50 aftershocks, the strongest with a preliminary magnitude of 4.6 that shook Kutahya.Most of the town of Simav was without electricity and telephone lines were down.


In March 2010, a 6.0-magnitude quake knocked down houses in five villages in eastern Turkey, killing 51 people. In 2003, a 6.4-magnitude earthquake killed 177 people in the southeastern city of Bingol, including 84 children whose school dormitory collapsed.