A huge 6.7 magnitude earthquake has struck Greece and Turkey with some buildings shaken so violently they have collapsed.
Locals said buildings shook for over two minutes during the quake with reports of building damage across the region.
It is reported to have hit at 2pm local time.
Footage showed how homes in İzmir, Turkey, were flooded in the aftermath amid reports of a "mini-tsunami".
Debris is seen floating down the flooded streets with water as high as 5ft deep. People in the region have been told to stay away from coastal areas.
The huge tremor had a depth of 5km (about 3 miles), according to early reports.
The Dodecanese Islands - which includes Rhodes - are a chain of island in the Aegean Sea near Greece and Turkey and are popular with Irish and British tourists.
Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) put the magnitude of the earthquake at 6.6, while the U.S. Geological Survey said it was 7.0.
It struck at around 1150 GMT and was felt along Turkey's Aegean coast and the northwestern Marmara region, media said.
The epicentre was some 17 km (11 miles) off the coast of the Izmir province, at a depth of 16 km, AFAD said.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the depth was 10 km and that the epicentre was 33.5 km off Turkey's coast.
The Turkish Interior Minister Soylu says six buildings have fallen down in Bornova and Bayrakli in Izmir area
Video showed people in Izmir scouring through wreckage of some buildings that had collapsed.
It has no been confirmed if there are any fatalities.
A USGS report says the quake’s center was 14 km NE of Néon Karlovásion, Greece.
Residents of Samos, an island with a population of about
45,000, were urged to stay away from coastal areas, Eftyhmios
Lekkas, head of Greece's organisation for anti-seismic planning, told Greece's Skai TV.
"It was a very big earthquake, it's difficult to have a bigger one," said Lekkas.
Ali Yerlikaya, the governor of Istanbul, where the quake was also felt, said there were no negative reports.
Earlier this year a 6.2 magnitude earthquake has struck close to tourist hotspots in Greece.
It hit at a depth of 10km about 60 miles to the east of Crete and 50 miles south of Rhodes.
