Over 1,000 feared killed in eastern Turkey quake

ANKARA, October 23: The Turkish government confirmed on Sunday that a powerful 7.3-magnitude earthquake that rocked the eastern parts of the country had led to deaths at and around the epicentre.
They didn't provide any immediate information on the exact number of casualties. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was to fly from Istanbul to the province of Van.
However, more than 1,000 people were likely to have been killed in an earthquake as powerful as the one that struck eastern Turkey, experts from the Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute said at a press conference broadcast on Turkish TV. The quake hit at 10.41 a.m. GMT (4.11 p.m. IST), about 20 km northeast of Van, at a depth of 7 km. A strong aftershock of 5.6 magnitude followed at 10.56 a.m. GMT at a depth of 20 km.
The epicentre was the town of Tabanli in Van, near the border with Iran.
The Turkish Red Crescent began distributing tents, blankets and food in the region. Images on Turkish broadcaster NTV showed residents running through the streets in panic and offices littered with overturned furniture.
Turkey is criss-crossed by active fault lines and is frequently shaken by earthquakes.
In 1999, a 7.6-magnitude quake in the city of Izmit killed an estimated 17,000 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless.
In recent years, the government has instituted stricter building codes, but poor construction remains the cause of many of Turkey's earthquake-related deaths. (Agencies)


2011-10-22



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