Powerful earthquake hits Turkey

Powerful earthquake hits Turkey

 Magnitude 6.6 earthquake strikes in southeast of country near Iranian border. Reports claim buildings collapse, people trapped under wreckage;  izraeli IDF prepares to send aid

Reuters

Published:  Israel News
 
 

 

 

  A magnitude 6.6 earthquake hit near Van in southeastern Turkey on Sunday near the border with Iran, Turkey’s Kandilli Observatory and Research Institute said, and media reported some buildings had collapsed.

  The institute said the earthquake struck at 10:41 am GMT and was 5 kilometers (three miles) deep. The US Geological Survey earlier reported that the magnitude was 7.6.

 

 

Watch: Earthquake in Van, Turkey

 State-run news agency Anatolian said some buildings had collapsed. After shocks continued after the initial quake, Anatolian said.

 

„Two buildings collapsed in Van, but the telephone system is jammed due to panic and we can’t assess the entire damage immediately,” Bekir Kaya, the mayor of Van, told NTV television.

 The state-run Anatolia news agency said rescue workers were trying to reach people believed to be trapped under the wreckage of a seven-story building in Van, close to the Iranian border.

 

A Reuters reporter in Hakkari, a town around 100 km (60 miles) south of the city of Van in southeastern Turkey, said he could feel the building sway for around 10 seconds.

 

There was no immediate sign of any casualties or damage in Hakkari, around two and half hours drive through the mountains from Van, around 20 km (12 miles) from the epicenter.

 

IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Benny Gantz has instructed the army to get ready to aid Turkey in coping with the powerful quake. Gantz said that an IDF delegation will head to Turkey once it receives approval from the government.

 

 

Major geological fault lines cross Turkey and small earthquakes are a near daily occurrence. Two large quakes in 1999 killed more than 20,000 people in northwest Turkey.

 

 

Two people were killed and 79 injured in May when an earthquake shook Simav in northwest Turkey.

 

Associated Press and Yoav Zitun contributed to the report