Ankara: Over 1,000 people were feared killed as a powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit eastern Turkey, sparking panic as it collapsed hundreds of buildings into piles of twisted steel and chunks of concrete.
State-run TRT television reported that 59 people were killed and 150 injured in the eastern town of Ercis, and 15 others died in the provincial center of Van. Another person died in the nearby province of Bitlis.
Meanwhile, local reported that over 150 have been killed in different part of Turkey.
“Around 10 buildings have collapsed in the city of Van and around 25 or 30 have collapsed in Ercis, including a dormitory,” Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay said. Atalay said authorities had no information yet on remote villages, adding that the governor was now touring the region by helicopter to assess damage. The quake s epicenter was in the village of Tabanli.
Ercis, a city of 75,000 in the mountainous province of Van close to the Iranian border, was the hardest hit. It lies on the Ercis Fault in one of Turkey’s most earthquake-prone zones. Van, 55 miles (90 kilometers) to the south, also suffered substantial damage.
“We are estimating a death toll between 500 and 1,000,” Mustafa Erdik, head of the Kandilli observatory, told a televised news conference. His estimate was based on the structure of the housing in the area and the strength of the quake. The Turkish Red Crescent said its rescuers pulled several injured people out of the collapsed dormitory in Ercis, which sits on a geological fault line.
Rescue operations have been started throughout the country and government of Turkey has announced emergency in all hospitals.
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