Death toll in Turkish quake increases to 576 - UPDATE - PHOTOS

Turkey's disaster management authority said on Friday that the death toll was 576 following a massive 7.2 magnitude earthquake that hit the eastern province of Van last Sunday, Anadolu Agency reported.

Turkish Prime Ministry Disaster & Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD) said that as of 7:00 p.m. Friday, the death toll was 576, and the number of injured people was 2,608 in the earthquake.

AFAD also said that 187 people were pulled alive from the rubble.

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28.10.2011

The death toll as a result of the devastating earthquake, which hit the Turkish southeast Van Province on Oct. 23, has reached 570 people, while 2.555 people are injured, Department of Emergency Situations said, the Sabah newspaper reported.

Previously, 550 people were reported to die as a result of tremors, which forced 7.2 on the Richter scale.

Local seismologists predict that the death toll can climb to 1.000 people.

Rescue operations are carried out in the earthquake-ravaged areas. Local authorities are handing out humanitarian aid coming from almost all Turkey's regions and from abroad. They mostly need warm clothing, tents, food and drinking water.

On Friday, rescue workers pulled a 13-year-old boy alive from the rubble.

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Turkey's disaster management authority said on Thursday that the death toll was 550 following a massive earthquake that hit the eastern province of Van on Sunday, AA reported.

Turkish Prime Ministry Disaster & Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD) said that as of 9:30 p.m. local time, the death toll was 550, and the number of injured people was 2,300 in the earthquake.

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27.10.2011

The death toll as a result of the devastating earthquake, which hit the Turkish southeast Van Province on Oct. 23, has reached 523 people, the TRT Channel reported.

Previously, 481 people were reported to die as a result of tremors, which forced 7.2 on the Richter scale.

Local seismologists predict that the death toll can climb to 500-1,000 people.

As many as 970 buildings or about a third of the total buildings collapsed in the city of Ercis, which was mostly hit by the quake according to the government's emergency committee.

Azerbaijan, Bulgaria and Germany also delivered aid, despite Ankara's announcement that it would deal with the crisis alone.

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Turkey's disaster management authority said on Wednesday that the death toll was 481 following a massive earthquake that hit the eastern province of Van on Sunday, Anadolu reported.

Turkish Prime Ministry Disaster & Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD) said that as of 10 p.m. today, the death toll was 481 and the number of injured people was 1,650 in the earthquake.

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26.10.2011

The Prime Ministry's Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD) has announced that the death toll following the powerful earthquake that struck eastern Turkey on Sunday stands at 461 as of Wednesday morning Todayszaman reported

AFAD said 461 people died and 1,352 people were injured in the 7.2 magnitude quake that hit the eastern province of Van.

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25.10.2011

The death toll as a result of the devastating earthquake, which hit the Turkish southeast Van Province on Oct. 23, has reached 366 people, while at least 1,300 people were injured, the Sabah newspaper reported.

Previously, 279 people were reported to die as a result of tremors, which forced 7.2 on the Richter scale in southeastern Turkey on Sunday afternoon.

Local seismologists predict that the death toll can climb to 500-1,000 people.

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The death toll in south-eastern Turkey climbed to at least 279 Monday, a day after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake devastated the region, dpa reported.

Although the death toll was slowly ratcheting upwards, Interior Minister Idris Naim Sahin said it was unlikely to reach the 1,000 deaths feared Sunday.

At least 1,300 people were injured in the province of Van, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said.

In the city of Ercis, which was worst hit by the quake, 970 buildings or about a third of the total collapsed, according to the government's emergency committee.

More than 1,200 doctors and rescue workers from across the country were sent to the region. Heavy machinery was being used to help clear rubble and find those buried beneath, according to a dpa reporter in Ercis. Cries for help could be heard from several buildings, volunteers said.

One 19-year-old man was rescued from a collapsed six-storey building after calling for help on his mobile phone. There were also reports of two women and two children, aged 3 and 5 years, being pulled alive from the rubble.

Two temporary hospitals were set up in tents.

"We won't leave any citizen in the cold," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said early Monday in the provincial capital Van.

However, as darkness fell in Ercis, protests were breaking out among families who said they had yet to be issued tents. Witnesses said there were thousands of people with no shelter.

Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Germany and Iran also sent help, despite Ankara's announcement that it would deal with the crisis alone. The government accepted the help because the teams had already set off on Sunday, it said.

There were 10 strong aftershocks in the region lasting until midday Monday, according to the German Research Centre for Geosciences.

The region, which borders Iran, is mainly populated by Turkey's Kurdish minority.

Experts from the Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute said Sunday that more than 1,000 people had likely been killed, given the magnitude of the quake.

But other experts said Monday that the number was probably lower than originally feared.

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24.10.2011

The death toll has reached 239 following the recent earthquake in the Turkish province of Van, Deputy Prime Minister Beshir Atalay said. The disaster injured about 1150 people, CNN Turk reported.

The Turkish authorities report that 970 homes were destroyed in the disaster.

The earthquake measuring 7.2, which occurred in the Van province on Sunday, was the most powerful in recent years in Turkey. Earlier it was reported that the death toll can reach 1,000 people.

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At least 217 people have been killed and hundreds more remain trapped under rubble after a powerful earthquake struck southeast Turkey, Sky News reported.

Dozens of buildings were destroyed by the 7.2 magnitude quake near the city of Van and the town of Ercis, close to the Iranian border.

Tens of thousands of people rushed into the streets after the first tremor and were digging with shovels and their bare hands to free those trapped.

US scientists recorded over 100 aftershocks in eastern Turkey within 10 hours of the quake, including one with a magnitude of 6.0.

Authorities advised people to stay away from damaged homes, warning they could collapse in the aftershocks.

Interior minister Idris Naim Sahin said at least 100 people were killed in Van, 117 others died in Ercis, and around 1,090 were injured, local TV channels reported.

But officials estimate the death toll could rise to 1,000 as many people remain unaccounted for.

Deputy prime minister Besir Atalay said: "Around 10 buildings have collapsed in the city of Van and around 25 or 30 have collapsed in Ercis, including a dormitory."

Around 1,275 rescue teams from 38 provinces have been sent to the region, officials said, and troops were also assisting search-and-rescue efforts.

In Ercis, heavy machinery was halted and people were told to stay quiet as rescuers listened out for sounds within the rubble.

Residents lit campfires to keep warm as they spent the night outdoors while others took refuge in tents set up in a sports stadium.

A nurse at a public hospital said hospital workers were treating the wounded in the hospital garden because the building was badly damaged.

International offers of aid poured in from Nato, China, Japan, the US, Azerbaijan, European countries and Israel.

Mr Erdogan thanked the governments who had offered help, but said Turkey could handle the disaster relief efforts without assistance.

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New aftershocks, the strongest of which was 6.1 on the Richter scale, were fixed at 20 km from the city of Van in eastern Turkey, Reuters reported with reference to local television channels.

Meanwhile, the number of deaths has exceeded the mark of 100 people, 366 people remain under the rubble, CNN Turk reported.

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Rescue workers found at least 77 people dead and more than 1,000 injured within the first hours after a powerful earthquake Sunday in eastern Turkey, Turkish media reported.

Authorities feared that the casualty toll could still rise dramatically. Scientists from the Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute at a press conference issued projections that an earthquake of Sunday's magnitude could more than 1,000 people.

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More than 1,000 people were likely to have been killed in an earthquake as powerful as the one that struck Sunday in eastern Turkey, experts from the Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute said at a press conference broadcast on Turkish TV.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was flying from Istanbul to the province of Van, the epicenter of the earthquake whose preliminary magnitude, according to the US Geological Survey, was 7.3.

The Turkish observatory's chief, Mustafa Erdik, said the revised magnitude was 7.2, the Anatolia news agency reported. The quake took place at 1041 GMT, 19 kilometres north-east of Van, at a depth of 7 kilometres.

The epicentre was the town of Tabanli in Van, near the border with Iran.

Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay said 10 buildings in the centre of Van had collapsed as well as 25-30 buildings in the town of Ercis, Anatolia reported.

The Turkish Red Crescent began distributing tents, blankets and food in the region. Health Minister Recep Akdag said an air ambulance and several helicopters would be sent to the quake-hit area, according to Anatolia.

Images on Turkish broadcaster NTV showed residents running through the streets in panic and offices littered with overturned furniture.

Turkey is criss-crossed by active fault lines and is frequently shaken by earthquakes.

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23.10.2011

More than 50 people were injured as a result of earthquake in Turkey, CNN Turk reported. All of them are distributed to the hospitals of Van.

An earthquake measuring 6.6 occurred on Sunday in south-eastern province of Van in Turkey, the Seismological Observatory of Bosphorus University reports.

Earthquake recorded at 13.40 local time, its epicenter was located at a depth of 5 km, the head of the observatory Ahmet Ercan said live on the NTV channel. He confirmed that the intensity of the earthquake was 6.6 on the Richter scale, not 7.6, as Western media reported.

Earlier, Reuters reported with reference to the U.S. Geological Survey TV announced that the magnitude of the earthquake was 7.6.

According to preliminary data, more than 50 people injured. The province also reported disruptions in electricity and telephone communications, according to local media. No casualities had been reported yet.

The earthquake was felt in many parts of southeastern and eastern Turkey.


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