85 killed in strong quake in southeastern Turkey, toll feared to rise

85 killed in strong quake in southeastern Turkey, toll feared to rise

At least 85 bodies were found Sunday after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit Turkey's southeastern province of Van, Turkish private Dagan news agency reported.

Bodies of 25 Turks were discovered in the Van city of Van province, 59 bodies in the Ercis town of the same province, and another body in the Adlicevaz town of Bitlis province, the report said.

It said more than 500 people were injured in the quake in Van province and the death toll might increase.

More than 17 aftershocks, which measured 4 magnitude and above, had happened, it said.

The Turkish earthquake observatory said earlier the death toll from the quake could reach 1,000.

"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 reported that the earthquake was 6.6 on the Richter scale, but later revised it up to 7.2.

Erdik said any quake with a strength of 7.0 or more would cause serious damage to buildings in Turkey.

The epicenter was located in the village of Tabanli in the Van province, which borders Iran, and the quake was also felt in the province's center as well as the neighboring provinces of Bitlis, Mus, Batman, Diyarbakir and Hakkari.

The earthquake damaged several buildings in the Van city, but the most serious damage was in the neighboring town of Ercis.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has arrived in Van and proceeded to Ercis by a helicopter after being informed by Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay and Health Minister Recep Akdag, according to Anatolia news agency.

The Prime Ministry's Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD) said in a statement released after the quake that the tremor was strong and caused material damage and some fatalities. It gave no figure on the death toll.

Deputy Prime Minister Atalay earlier said that 25 to 30 buildings collapsed in the town of Ercis.

AFAD said more than 500 search, rescue and health personnel have been sent to Van from nearly 40 provinces.

TV footage showed residents spilling out into the streets in panic as rescue workers struggled to save people believed to be trapped under collapsed buildings.

"There are so many dead. Several buildings have collapsed. There is so much destruction," Zulfikar Arapoglu, mayor of Ercis, told NTV television, "We need urgent aid, we need medics."

Turkish Red Crescent is sending tents, blankets and other aid materials to the quake-hit province despite ongoing aftershocks, according to Anatolia.

Some people were trapped under debris of buildings in central Van, it added.

Israeli President Shimon Peres telephoned his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul on Sunday to offer help in the wake of the earthquake. "At this difficult time, Israel is willing to provide any aid required anywhere in Turkey and at any time," Peres said, according to a statement released by his office.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said later Sunday Ankara has declined Israel's aid offer.

Turkey, lying atop the North Anatolian fault, has been plagued by earthquakes frequently. On March 8, 2010, at least 38 people died and dozens of others were injured after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit the Elazig province in eastern Turkey.

On Aug. 17, 1999, two powerful earthquakes, measuring 6.7 and 7. 4 on the Richter scale respectively, hit northwestern and western Turkey, killing about 18,000 people and affecting hundreds of thousands of others.

A major earthquake hit Van province in November 1976, with 5, 291 confirmed dead. The province has a population of just over 1 million.

Editor: Mu Xuequan

English.news.cn   2011-10-24 04:16:56 FeedbackPrintRSS
ANKARA/ISTANBUL, Oct. 23 (Xinhua)