Powerful quake kills 21 in eastern Turkey
ELAZIG (AFP) — A powerful earthquake has killed at least 21 persons and injured more than 1,000 in eastern Turkey, as rescue teams searched through the rubble of collapsed buildings for survivors yesterday.
In a series of tweets early yesterday, the Turkish government’s disaster and emergency management agency (AFAD) said five people were pulled alive from the rubble in the eastern province of Elazig.
State news agency Anadolu said among those found alive was a pregnant woman who was rescued 12 hours after the quake hit.
At least 30 people were missing following the magnitude 6.8 quake on Friday night, which had its epicentre in the small lakeside town of Sivrice in Elazig.
“It was very scary, furniture fell on top of us. We rushed outside,” 47-year-old Melahat Can, who lives in the provincial capital of Elazig, told AFP.
Eray Ernek described how he was watching television when the quake took place.
“I was on the sofa and then fell on the floor. My sleeping father was woken up,” Ernek said.
“After we found a way out, we broke the door and got out. We saw other houses had collapsed,” he added.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said all steps are being taken to aid people affected by the quake, which has caused widespread fear.
“We stand by our people,” Erdogan said on Twitter.
AFAD said the quake hit Sivrice at around 8.55 p.m.
Turkey lies on major faultlines and is prone to frequent earthquakes.
Turkish television showed images of people rushing outside in panic as well as a fire on the roof of a building.
Interior, environment and health ministers, who were in the quake zone, said the casualties were in Elazig province and in the neighboring province of Malatya, which lies to the southwest.
At least 21 people died, including 17 in Elazig and four in Malatya, and 1,030 others were injured, according to AFAD.
Among those injured were residents in the southeastern provinces of Diyarbakir, Batman, Sanliurfa, Adiyaman and Kahramanmaras, it added.
Rescue teams were searching for survivors trapped in a five-story collapsed building in a village some 30 kilometers from Elazig, according to AFP journalists at the scene. One person was pulled alive from the rubble.
Sports centers, schools and guest houses had been opened to accommodate quake victims in Malatya.