The tremors were strong enough to be felt in Istanbul and the capital Ankara. At least 50 people were injured, officials said.
Estimates of the quake’s depth vary from 2km to 10km.
Power was disrupted in the region, and one resident was injured after jumping from their balcony.Another 4.7 quake was reported some 20 minutes after the first.
Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told broadcaster TRT Haber there was no severe damage caused by the quake, “only some barns were wrecked in these places”.
Authorities are working to restore power to the area.
Turkey’s disaster agency said 37 had been injured in Duzce, one in Istanbul, six in Zonguldak and one in Sakarya on the Black Sea coast, and one in Bolu, to the southeast.
Photos from Duzce at night show many people huddled outdoors, wrapped in blankets and using makeshift fires to keep warm.
Security camera footage of the earthquake has been posted on social media.
The Duzce court house was among the eight buildings damaged in the area.
Duzce resident, Fatma Colak told AFP she woke to a “big noise and tremor”.
“We got out of our homes in panic and now we are waiting outside,” she said.
Duzce was hit by a major 7.2 magnitude earthquake in 1999 which left at least 845 people dead.
It followed an even larger quake months earlier in the city of Izmit, 100km to the west, which killed more than 17,000 and left buildings in the region in a weakened state.
Some 80% of Duzce’s buildings have been rebuilt since the 1999 earthquakes, the city’s mayor told local media.
Turkish residents felt the earthquake as far away as Istanbul, Ankara, Bolu, Gölcük and Gebze.
Omair Anas, in Ankara, said: ‘Woke up at 4:3am amid massively shaking building and bookshelves as if they would fall.
‘Never felt such a massive quake in my life in Ankara. Just last week the municipality had conducted a big drill for earthquake [safety]. Wish everyone in Turkey safety!’
One TV studio began shaking as it was being broadcast live to Turkish viewers, while other residents uploaded security camera footage of their cars and gates rattling as a result of the quake.
Abdifatah Aden added: ‘Just felt an earthquake tonight here in Istanbul, Turkey. My apartment started rambling as if its about to collapse.’
Another resident said it was the ‘strongest earthquake’ they ever experienced in Turkey.
Real-time network data showed a significant disruption to internet connectivity in Düzce following the earthquake, according to NetBlocks.
‘In Düzce, the epicenter of the earthquake, there is a serious interruption in the internet,’ said Ersin Çahmutoğlu on Twitter.
‘In Sakarya, we are also having problems with mobile internet connection. Power cuts continue in many places in Düzce and Sakarya.’
The Turkish Interior Minister said there have been no reports of casualties as of the time of writing, according to Middle East Eye.
Details as to the extent of the damage were not immediately known.
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