In Turkey, Scenes From the Quake Zone
By SARAH MASLIN NIRVideo reports poured out of Turkey on Sunday after a powerful earthquake struck the country’s eastern region, collapsing buildings and causing widespread panic.
The video above, from Euro News, shows rescue workers and residents scrambling over toppled buildings in search of people buried in the debris.
CNN Turk reported that a hospital was so badly damaged in the the town of Ercis, near the quake’s epicenter, that people were being treated in the garden there and that a pile of dead bodies had been left outside.
From The Associated Press:
In Tabanli, also near the epicenter, some large buildings had partially collapsed, and videos and photographs showed dozens of people clambering across the now-concave roofs, searching for survivors.
This video, recorded near the city of Vans, captures the panic in the moments after the earthquake.
Esra Dogramaci, a member of Al Jazeera’s social media team, reported updates on Twitter:
Several countries, including Greece and Israel, have offered to help.
Bloomberg News, citing a statement from Athens, reported that Foreign Minister Stavros Lambrinidis had spoken with his Turkish counterpart, Ahmet Davutoglu, extending condolences and assuring him that Greece was ready to help.
Israel, whose relations with Turkey have been strained over the Gaza blockade, would provide “any assistance required,” The Jerusalem Post quoted Defense Minister Ehud Barak as saying. The newspaper also reported that
Hours later, the Israeli defense minister reported that Turkey had declined the offer of aid, according to The A.P.
Reuters said the Turkish government had declined all offers of assistance so far.
The video above, from Euro News, shows rescue workers and residents scrambling over toppled buildings in search of people buried in the debris.
CNN Turk reported that a hospital was so badly damaged in the the town of Ercis, near the quake’s epicenter, that people were being treated in the garden there and that a pile of dead bodies had been left outside.
From The Associated Press:
“The hospital has been badly damaged, so we can’t operate inside,” a nurse, Eda Ekizoglu, told CNN Turk by telephone from Ercis.
“We’re giving care in the hospital garden and at a nearby building with a generator,” she said.As the death toll rose, President Obama issued a statement of support: “We stand shoulder to shoulder with our Turkish ally in this difficult time and are ready to assist the Turkish authorities.”
In Tabanli, also near the epicenter, some large buildings had partially collapsed, and videos and photographs showed dozens of people clambering across the now-concave roofs, searching for survivors.
This video, recorded near the city of Vans, captures the panic in the moments after the earthquake.
Esra Dogramaci, a member of Al Jazeera’s social media team, reported updates on Twitter:
Turkish Red crescent sending 1162 tents, 1000 heaters, 4250 blankets, 500 supply kits #deprem #Van #earthquake
Bloomberg News, citing a statement from Athens, reported that Foreign Minister Stavros Lambrinidis had spoken with his Turkish counterpart, Ahmet Davutoglu, extending condolences and assuring him that Greece was ready to help.
Israel, whose relations with Turkey have been strained over the Gaza blockade, would provide “any assistance required,” The Jerusalem Post quoted Defense Minister Ehud Barak as saying. The newspaper also reported that
Barak ordered the Defense Ministry’s head of the political-diplomatic bureau to transmit Israel’s offer of help to Turkey.Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz instructed the army to be prepared to aid Turkey in the aftermath of the earthquake. Gantz emphasized that an I.D.F. [Israeli Defense Force] delegation would set out for the site of the earthquake only after receiving approval from the political echelon.
Hours later, the Israeli defense minister reported that Turkey had declined the offer of aid, according to The A.P.
Reuters said the Turkish government had declined all offers of assistance so far.
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/in-turkey-scenes-from-the-quake-zone/
7.2 earthquake kills 85 people in eastern Turkey, collapses dozens of buildings
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Turkey on Sunday, killing at least 85 people and sparking widespread panic as it collapsed dozens of buildings into piles of twisted steel and chunks of concrete.
Tens of thousands of residents fled into the streets running, screaming and trying to reach relatives on cell phones. As the full extent of the damage became clear, desperate survivors dug into the rubble with their bare hands, trying to rescue the trapped and the injured.
"My wife and child are inside! My 4-month-old baby is inside!" CNN-Turk television showed one young man sobbing outside a collapsed building in Van, the provincial capital.
TRT television reported that 59 people were killed and 150 injured in the eastern town of Ercis, 25 others died in Van and a child died in the nearby province of Bitlis.
Turkish scientists estimated that up to 1,000 people could already be dead, basing the calculation on low local housing standards and the size of the quake.
The hardest hit was Ercis, a city of 75,000 close to the Iranian border, which lies on the Ercis Fault in one of Turkey's most earthquake-prone zones. Van, about 55 miles (90 kilometers) to the south, also sustained substantial damage.
Up to 80 buildings collapsed in Ercis, including a dormitory, and 10 buildings collapsed in Van, the Turkish Red Crescent said. Some highways also caved in, CNN-Turk television reported.
Hundreds of injured people were treated at the state hospital in Ercis, NTV television said. Survivors in Ercis complained of a lack of heavy machinery to remove chunks of cement floors that pancaked onto each other.
"There are so many dead. Several buildings have collapsed. There is too much destruction," Ercis Mayor Zulfikar Arapoglu told NTV. "We need urgent aid. We need medics."
In Van, terrified residents spilled into the streets screaming. Rescue workers and residents scrambled, using only their hands and basic shovels, to save those who were trapped.
Residents sobbed outside the ruins of one flattened eight-story building, hoping that missing relatives would be rescued.
Witnesses said eight people were pulled from the rubble, but frequent aftershocks were hampering search efforts, CNN-Turk reported. One teenage girl was pulled out of the building by the late evening. Rescuers tied steel rods around large concrete slabs which they then lifted with heavy machinery, Dogan news agency video footage showed.
Residents in Van and Ercis lit camp fires, preparing to spend the night outdoors.
U.S. scientists recorded eight aftershocks within three hours of the quake, including two with a magnitude of 5.6.
Serious damage and casualties were also reported in the district of Celebibag, near Ercis.
"There are many people under the rubble," Veysel Keser, mayor of Celebibag, told NTV. "People are in agony, we can hear their screams for help. We need urgent help."
He said many buildings had collapsed, including student dormitories, hotels and gas stations.
Nazmi Gur, a legislator from Van, was at his nephew's funeral when the quake struck. The funeral ceremony was cut short and he rushed back to help with rescues.
"At least six buildings had collapsed. We managed to rescue a few people, but I saw at least five bodies," Gur told The Associated Press by telephone. "There is no coordinated rescue at the moment, everyone is doing what they can."
"It was such a powerful temblor. It lasted for such a long time," Gur said. "(Now) there is no electricity, there is no heating, everyone is outside in the cold."
Many residents fled Van to seek shelter with relatives in nearby villages.
"I am taking my family to our village, our house was fine but there were cracks in our office building," Sahabettin Ozer, 47, said by telephone as he drove to the village of Muradiye.
NTV said Van's airport was damaged and planes were being diverted to neighboring cities.
Authorities had no information yet on remote villages but the governor was touring the region by helicopter and the government sent in tents, field kitchens and blankets. Some in Ercis reported shortages of bread, Turkey's staple food, due to damages to bakeries.
Houses also collapsed in the province of Bitlis, where an 8-year-old girl was killed, authorities said, and the quake toppled the minarets of two mosques in the nearby province of Mus.
There was no immediate information about a recently restored 10th century Armenian church, Akdamar Church, which is perched on a rocky island in the nearby Lake Van.
Turkey lies in one of the world's most active seismic zones and is crossed by numerous fault lines. Lake Van, where Sunday's earthquake hit, is the country's most earthquake-prone region.
The Kandilli observatory, Turkey's main seismography center, said Sunday's quake was capable of killing many people.
"We are estimating a death toll between 500 and 1,000," Mustafa Erdik, head of the Kandilli observatory, told a televised news conference.
The earthquake also shook buildings in neighboring Armenia and Iran.
In the Armenian capital of Yerevan, 100 miles (160 kilometers) from Ercis, people rushed into the streets fearing buildings would collapse but no damage or injuries were immediately reported. Armenia was the site of a devastating earthquake in 1988 that killed 25,000 people.
Sunday's quake caused panic among residents in several Iranian towns close to the Turkish border, and cut phone links and caused cracks in buildings in the city of Chaldoran, Iranian state TV reported. The quake was also felt in the northeastern Iranian towns of Salmas, Maku, Khoi but no damage was immediately reported.
U.S. leaders conveyed their condolences to the families of the victims and offered assistance.
"We stand shoulder to shoulder with our Turkish ally in this difficult time, and are ready to assist the Turkish authorities," President Barack Obama said.
Israel also offered humanitarian assistance despite a rift in relations following an 2010 Israeli navy raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla that left nine Turks dead. In September, Turkey expelled the Israeli ambassador and suspended military ties because Israel has not apologized. Israel has sent rescue teams to Turkey for past earthquakes in times of closer ties.
Turkey sees frequent earthquakes. In 1999, two earthquakes with a magnitude of more than 7 struck northwestern Turkey, killing about 18,000 people.
More recently, a 6.0-magnitude quake in March 2010 killed 51 people in eastern Turkey, while in 2003, a 6.4-magnitude earthquake killed 177 people in the southeastern city of Bingol.
Turkey's worst earthquake in the last century came in 1939 in the eastern city of Erzincan, causing an estimated 160,000 deaths.
Istanbul, Turkey's largest city with more than 12 million people, lies in northwestern Turkey near a major fault line. Authorities say Istanbul is ill-prepared for a major earthquake and experts have warned that overcrowding and faulty construction could lead to the deaths of more than 40,000 people if a major earthquake struck the city.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sns-ap-eu-turkey-quake,0,3119450,full.story
Strong quake jolts remote N.Zealand island. no damage
AFP – Fri, Oct 21, 2011- A powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake jolted New Zealand's Kermadec Islands region …
A powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake jolted New Zealand's remote and largely uninhabited Kermadec Islands region early Saturday, seismologists said, but there was no damage or threat of a tsunami.
The US Geological Survey said the quake was centered 180 kilometers (112 miles) east of Raoul Island in the South Pacific at a depth of about 24 miles. The islands lie about 800 miles (1,200 kilometers) north of the North Island.
The New Zealand ministry of civil defence said it briefly mobilised after the quake but soon dropped guard as it did not trigger any immediate tsunami alert or damage reports.
"The New Zealand Tsunami Experts Panel has convened and advises that there is no threat to New Zealand from this event," the ministry said in a statement.
But the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center warned that some coastal areas in the region may experience small non-destructive sea level changes lasting up to several hours.
New Zealand, currently hosting the Rugby World Cup, lies on the Pacific "ring of fire", a zone of frequent seismic activity, and is prone to earthquakes.
The second largest city, Christchurch, was devastated by a 6.3-magnitude quake in February which killed 181 people, after many of its buildings were weakened by a previous earthquake in September 2010.
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