Epicenter of the Turkish earthquake, October 23, 2011
Rescue efforts continued throughout the night after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake brought down buildings in eastern Turkey Sunday afternoon, killing hundreds and trapping untold numbers.
The quake, which occurred at 1:41 local time, was centered in the village of Tabanli, near the border with Iran, and was followed by more than 100 aftershocks up to 6.0 in magnitude.
As rescuers worked with heavy machinery, shovels and their bare hands, residents afraid to reenter their homes and buildings spent the night outdoors, in freezing temperatures and warmed by campfires.
With many medical facilities compromised, injuries were also being treated outdoors.
Hardest hit was the town of Ercis (pop. 75,000), where up to 80 multi-story buildings were reported to have collapsed. Major damage was also reported in the city of Van (pop. 1 million), about 50 miles to the south.
The shallow depth of the quake (12.4 miles/20 km) and poor enforcement of building codes are likely to have worsened the damage.
Confirmed deaths range from 200 and 300, but that number is expected to rise to a thousand or more in the coming days.
Casualties are expected to be particularly high in the mountainous region’s smaller villages, where in some instances, nearly all mud-brick homes are thought to have collapsed.
Turkey is a tectonically active country that experiences frequent earthquakes. Sunday’s event occurred at a slip-fault where the Arabian plate converges with Eurasia.
Sunday’s earthquake was the worst to hit Turkey since 1999, when an estimated 17,000 were killed, 50,000 injured, and 500,000 left homeless.
