Up to 1,000 dead as earthquake hits east Turkey
Up to 1,000 people could have been killed by an earthquake of 7.3 magnitude which has hit eastern Turkey. The quake is the strongest to hit the county in years.
Issued on: Modified:
Aftershocks hit Van, a large eastern city populated mainly by Kurds, causing major damage.
"Many multi-floor buildings, hotels and a dormitory were collapsed," said Veysel Keser, a local official from Van. "We can hear voices from the collapsed buildings.”
Turkey is earthquake-prone due to being crossed by several fault lines.
In 1999, two strong quakes in the heavily-populated and industrialised north-western regions left some 20,000 dead.
In 1976 powerful earthquake in the town of Caldiran in Van province killed 3,840 people.
"500 to 1,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the quake," Professor Mustafa Erdik, director of the Kandilli seismological institute in Istanbul, told a news conference.
At least 50 people were taken to hospital in Van, Anatolia news agency said.
"There is serious human and material loss," said a brief statement from the the national disaster body which is based in the prime minister's office.
"People are panicked. The telecommunication services have collapsed. We cannot reach anybody," Van Mayor Bekir Kaya told the NTV television in an initial assessment.
The army will send search and rescue teams to the area.
The epicentre was at Tabanli in Van province. Two aftershocks are reported to have paricularly impacted on Ilikaynak and Gedikbulak villages.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has cancelled his official programme and was due to visit the quake region on Sunday, said NTV.
The quake was also felt over the border in north-west Iran, causing some panic in major cities, Iranian media reported, but without any mention of casualties or damage.
Daily newsletterReceive essential international news every morning
Subscribe