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Magnitude 6.8 Earthquake Shakes Eastern Turkey, at Least 4 Dead Eastern Turkey Struck by Magnitude 6.8 Earthquake
(about 1 hour later)
The Turkish authorities reported an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 shook the country’s east on Friday, causing some buildings to collapse and killing at least four people, Turkish officials said. ISTANBUL — An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 shook eastern Turkey on Friday, causing some buildings to collapse and killing at least six people, the authorities said.
The earthquake struck at 8:55 p.m. local time, near the town of Sivrice in eastern Elazig province, the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency said. The earthquake struck at 8:55 p.m. local time in eastern Elazig province, Suleyman Soylu, Turkey’s interior minister, told the Turkish news media. At least three people were killed in Elazig province and three in the nearby province of Malatya, southwest of the epicenter, where the earthquake was also felt.
The defense minister, Hulusi Akar, told reporters that there were no reports of any casualties in Sivrice but said the quake may have caused casualties in rural areas outside the town. He said troops were on standby to help is they are needed Mr. Soylu told NTV television that rescue workers were trying to reach survivors after a four-story building collapsed in the town of Maden. One person was rescued from the rubble there, he said. Four or five buildings collapsed in Sivrice, where two people were hurt, he said.
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told NTV television that rescuers were trying to reach survivors after a four- or five-story building collapsed in the town of Maden, he said. About four to five buildings collapsed in Sivrice, where two people were hurt, he said. “We are hoping we will not have more casualties,” Mr. Soylu said, according to the Anadolu news agency.
The Kandilli seismology center in Istanbul said the quake measured 6.5. The defense minister, Hulusi Akar, told reporters that there were no reports of any casualties in Sivrice, a town of about 4,000 people near the site of the earthquake, according to The Associated Press, but he said the quake may have caused casualties in rural areas outside the town. Troops were on standby to help if needed, he said.
The U.S. Geological Survey gave the preliminary magnitude as 6.7, with the quake affecting not only Turkey but also Syria, Georgia and Armenia. The Kandilli seismology center in Istanbul said the quake measured 6.5, The A.P. reported.
Turkish media said the earthquake sent people running outdoors for safety. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake registered a preliminary magnitude of 6.7 and was also felt in Syria, Georgia and Armenia.
Village chiefs, or mukhtars, in the area of Turkey affected by the earthquake reported extensive damage in interviews with the news media and said people could be left homeless. Temperatures in the region were expected to drop to about 10 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 12 degrees Celsius) overnight, according to the Turkish State Meteorological Service.
In March 2010, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.0 struck 61 miles from the town of Elazig, killing 51 people. One village was largely destroyed and four others were heavily damaged. A second quake with a 5.6 magnitude subsequently hit the same area, among scores of aftershocks.
In western Turkey in 1999, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake that struck the city of Izmit killed more than 17,000 people.