Turkey tornado causes injuries and topples crane on country's Aegean coast

A small tornado struck Turkey's Aegean coast on Thursday night, injuring at least sixteen people.

Strong winds hit the resort town of Çeşme around 90 kilometres west of the city of Izmir, uprooting trees and sweeping up cars.

The worst damage was noticed at a construction site for summer villas where the crane was toppled and a container housing the construction workers overturned.

At least four boats were also capsized overnight, officials have reported.

The local government had earlier warned citizens to expect "sudden floods, strong winds with lightning and small-scale hail".

Çeşme mayor Ekrem Oran visited the affected areas on Friday with emergency teams and confirmed that one person was seriously injured.

"In the storm and tornado disaster that occurred in Alaçatı, 16 of our fellow citizens were injured, one of them seriously" Oran tweeted.

"Property damage [also] occurred in the Alaçatı Port area," he added.

"Together, we will heal our wounds as soon as possible."

Powerful winds and hail also caused damage in the nearby town of Urla, destroying hundreds of commercial greenhouses.

The mayor of neighbouring district Karşıyaka, Cemil Tugay, has also sent his wishes to Çeşme following the tornado.

Between 1980 and 2013, a total of 59 tornadoes were recorded across Turkey, according to the State Meteorological Service.