Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Death toll rises to 29 in Turkey quake
Erdogan warns people not to listen to ‘rumors’
ANKARA, Turkey — The death toll from a strong earthquake that rocked eastern Turkey climbed to 29 on Saturday night as rescue crews searched for people who remained trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings, officials said.
Speaking at a televised news conference, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said earlier in the day that 18 people were killed in Elazig province, where Friday night’s quake was centered, and four in neighboring Malatya. The national disaster agency later updated the total with seven more casualties.
Some 1,243 people were injured, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said.
On Saturday afternoon, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the hardest-hit areas and attended the funeral of a mother and son killed in the quake. He warned people against repeating “negative” hearsay about the country being unprepared for earthquakes.
“Do not listen to rumors, do not listen to anyone’s negative, contrary propaganda, and know that we are your servants,” Erdogan said.
Various earthquake monitoring centers gave magnitudes ranging from 6.5 to 6.8. for the earthquake, which hit Friday at 8:55 p.m. local time near the Elazig province town of Sivrice, the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency said.
It was followed by 398 aftershocks, the strongest of them with magnitudes of 5.4 and 5.1, the disaster agency said.
Emergency workers and security forces distributed tents, beds and blankets as overnight temperatures dropped below freezing in the affected areas. Mosques, schools, sports halls and student dormitories were opened for hundreds who left their homes after the quake.
While visiting Sivrice and the city of Elazig, the provincial capital located some 350 miles east of Ankara, Erdogan promised state support for those affected by the disaster.
“We will not leave anyone in the open,” the Turkish leader.
United Nation’s Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “deeply saddened by the loss of life and destruction of property in the wake of an earthquake in Elazig province, Turkey,” according to a statement from his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric.