The resort is popular with tourists

At least two foreign tourists were among those injured.

The explosive device had been placed in a bin near a bank in the centre of the resort of Cesme, some 70km (44 miles) from the port town of Izmir.

Nobody has claimed the attack so far, but Islamist militants, far-left militants and Kurdish activists have been behind bombings in the past.

"A fragmentation bomb caused the explosion," Izmir governor Yusuf Ziya Aksu said.

"Two of the injured were foreign tourists. Everything is under control now, authorities are continuing the investigation."

Izmir health officials said one person is in a serious condition and has been taken to a hospital in Izmir.

Special bomb disposal squads went to the scene of the blast, and the area was cordoned off.

Cesme, on the Aegean Sea just opposite the Greek island of Chios, is popular with Turkish and foreign tourists.

A previous bomb attack in the Aegean Sea resort of Kusadasi in April, in which one police officer was killed and two more injured, was claimed by Kurdish guerrillas.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party, known as PKK, has been fighting the government for independence since 1984.

More than 37,000 people have been killed since.

The rebels declared a unilateral truce in 1999, but ended it in 2004, saying Turkey had not done enough to meet their demands.