Up to 1,000 feared dead in Turkey earthquake

A powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Turkey on today,killing 45 people.

Listen to this article

00:00

1x 1.5x 1.8x

A powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Turkey on today,killing 45 people and collapsing dozens of buildings into piles of twisted steel and chunks of concrete.

Desperate survivors dug into the rubble with their bare hands,trying to rescue the trapped and injured.

State-run television reported that 45 people were killed and 150 others injured in the eastern town of Ercis,but scientists estimated that up to 1,000 people could already be dead,due to low housing standards in the area and the size of the quake.

Ercis,a town of 75,000 in the mountainous province of Van close to the Iranian border,was the hardest hit. It lies on the Ercis Fault in one of Turkey’s most earthquake-prone zones. The bustling regional center of Van,55 miles (90 kilometers) to the south,also suffered substantial damage.

Up to 30 buildings collapsed in Ercis,including a dormitory,and 10 buildings collapsed in Van,Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay said.

Rescuers in Ercis scrambled to find survivors in a flattened eight-story building that had shops on the ground floor,television footage showed. Residents sobbed outside the ruins,hoping that missing relatives would be rescued.

“My wife and child are inside! My 4-month-old baby is inside!” CNN-Turk television showed one young man crying.

Story continues below this ad

Witnesses said eight people were rescued from the rubble,but frequent aftershocks were hampering search efforts,CNN-Turk reported.

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