TURKEY: Death toll rises further after quake

Record ID: 217335

  • Title: TURKEY: Death toll rises further after quake
  • Date: 9th March 2010
  • Summary: KOVANCILAR, TURKEY (MARCH 08, 2010) (REUTERS) WIDE OF VILLAGE HIT BY QUAKE HEAVY MACHINERY WORKING ON DEBRIS CLOSER SHOT OF HEAVY MACHINERY WORKING CLOSER SHOT OF HEAVY MACHINERY FROM SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT ANGLE DAMAGED BUILDINGS RESCUE WORKERS DIGGING RUBBLE RESCUERS PULLING A FARM ANIMAL OUT OF DEBRIS 8 .RESCUE WORKERS CHECKING DEBRIS WIDE OF VILLAGERS WARMING AROUN
  • Embargoed: 24th March 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVACAJUW5RZCZB5TDE1PDL0M7ZVZ
  • Story Text: A strong earthquake has killed at least 57 people in villages in eastern Turkey early on Monday, (March 08) local officials said, as rescuers worked to free survivors trapped under the rubble.
    The quake had a magnitude of 6.0. It was followed by some 55 aftershocks, the strongest measuring 5.1 so far.
    Residents woke from their sleep when it struck at 4:32 am local time (0232 GMT), centred on the sparsely populated area of Basyurt in Elazig province.
    Near the town of Kovancilar six small villages were affected by the quake. The minarets of three mosques and were toppled and mud-brick houses were demolished.
    Families huddled in the open around fires lit to keep them warm before dawn as the earth shook.
    Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek and three other ministers travelled to the quake zone, state-run Anatolian news agency reported. Cicek said the death toll had risen to 57, confirming estimates given by local officials to broadcasters.
    Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan Erdogan lamented the loss of life due to the vulnerability of the traditional mud-brick village homes, and pledged to rebuild houses using stronger materials.
    "Without doubt mud-brick construction is the local architectural style in this region. Unfortunately the cost of this mud-brick construction has been high and now an earthquake has struck a region where it didn't happen for a very long time," he said.
    Gendarmerie officers and police directed operations on the outskirts of affected villages where crowds had gathered and ambulances rushed back and forth.
    A Red Crescent team has reached the area and set up a crisis centre while rescuers raced against time to save people trapped beneath the rubble.
    Hospital workers and relatives carried casualties from cars and ambulances into the state hospital in the nearby town of Kovancilar as concerned locals looked on.
    There were no reports of any damage to the strategic hydroelectric Keban Dam, further west in Elazig. The Keban Dam was the first and most upstream dam built by Turkey on the Euphrates River as part of the Southeast Anatolia Project.
    The Kandilli observatory in Istanbul warned that aftershocks might continue during the week.
    Turkey is criss-crossed with faultlines and frequently suffers earthquakes. A large earthquake measuring 7.4 killed some 18,000 people in August 1999.
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