5.7-magnitude aftershock jolts Turkey's Van province: quake observatory

5.7-magnitude aftershock jolts Turkey's Van province: quake observatory

An aftershock measured at 5.7- magnitude jolted the southeastern Turkish province of Van at 11:45 p.m. Sunday, after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake rocked the area earlier in the day, Turkey's earthquake observatory said early Monday.

Quoted by Turkey's NTV channel, the observatory said besides the latest aftershock, more than 17 aftershocks, including a 5.1- magnitude tremor, had happened.

The United States Geological Survey put the latest aftershock's magnitude at 6.1, saying it struck an area only 6 km from Van city of Van province.

The Turkish quake observatory said Sunday the death toll from the powerful 7.2-magnitude quake in the southeastern province of Van could reach 1,000. Local media reports put the current death toll at 85.

"The toll from this earthquake could be 500 to 1,000," said Prof. Mustafa Erdik, head of the Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute in Turkey's largest city of Istanbul.

The Istanbul-based Kandilli seismology center originally put the earthquake's magnitude at 6.6 on the Richter scale, but later revised it up to 7.2.

Editor: Mu Xuequan

English.news.cn   2011-10-24 05:42:49 FeedbackPrintRSS
ANKARA, Oct. 24 (Xinhua)