Major Quake Hits Eastern Turkey

October 24, 2011 | Natural Disasters

Photo: CNN.com

A major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 hit eastern Turkey on Sunday and killed more than 200 people.  The death toll is expected to rise as hundreds of people have been injured while others were trapped beneath the collapsed buildings.

Around 2000 personnel have been assigned on the ground to assist those who were injured.  The military is also assisting in the search and rescue operations of survivors beneath the rubbles and concrete slabs.

More than 50 buildings and apartments collapsed while some of the damaged houses are uninhabitable.  The poorly constructed houses have been blamed for many deaths during earthquakes.  The electricity and natural gas were also switched off in most areas of the city.  The massive quake has caused panic and fear among the people and most of them spent the nights in emergency shelters.

Turkey sits in fault lines and has always been hit by earthquakes. In 1999, two strong quakes rocked the northwest part of the country and left 20,000 dead.

News Update:

October 25, 2011 – The total count of people who were killed in the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey has risen to 366 with more than 1000 injured.  Authorities also confirmed that there are more than 2200 buildings destroyed.  There are still people trapped beneath the rubbles and the rescuers have been working hard to rescue them.  One of the rescued alive was a two-year old baby whose mother and grandmother are still underneath the debris. All efforts are being made to search for more survivors with the rescuers using their bare hands, shovels and heavy machineries as they race against time to save lives.

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