Turkey Earthquake: Powerful 7.2-Magnitude Quake Kills 270, Injures Hundreds
A powerful earthquake rattled eastern Turkey Sunday morning causing over 270 deaths and injuring around 1,300 people.
The worst damage from the quake occurred near the town of Ercis, close to the Iranian border.
The epicenter of the earthquake was located near the Turkish border with Iraq, one of the poorest regions in the country.
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Aftershocks, as large as 6.0-magnitude, continued for 10 hours after the initial quake.
Turkey’s Anatolian news agency quoted Turkey’s Interior Minister Idri Naim Sahin as saying that a total of 970 buildings had collapsed. However, conflicting reports have been coming out about the magnitude of the damage and it may likely take awhile longer to assess just how badly the region was hit.
Some of the buildings that collapsed in Ercis included a student dormitory and a hospital. Patients from the hospital are reportedly being treated in the hospital’s garden.
The cold temperatures, at near-zero, are making the situation less manageable, causing some survivors to collect wood from collapsed buildings to burn for warmth.
Yesterday, televised reports showed masses of people evacuating their homes and walking or running on the streets of the city of Van, close to the epicenter of the earthquake. People were also reported to be digging through the rubble with their hands.
Al Jazeerza, Veysel Keser, mayor of Celebibag, told a Turkish TV station, “There are many people under the rubble.”
He added, “People are in agony, we can hear their screams for help. We need urgent help.”
As of Monday more than 2,300 emergency personal were on the ground to aid injured people and continue rescue efforts.
According to CNN, the earthquake was the strongest quake to hit the country in at least a decade.
To watch a video of the damage in the city of Van please watch below.
