Dozens die as strong quake rocks eastern Turkey
07:57, 24 October 2011
LONDON. October 24. KAZINFORM A strong quake has shattered buildings near the Turkish city of Van, killing at least 138 people and trapping an unknown number under rubble.
Casualties are reported to be particularly high in the town of Ercis, close to the Iranian border, where dozens of buildings fell, BBC News reported.
Reports spoke of thousands of residents running screaming in the streets.
Fears rose of a death toll in the hundreds as rescuers worked into the night to find survivors.
Some were seen digging through rubble with shovels or their bare hands.
Turkey is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes because it sits on major geological fault lines.
Two earthquakes in 1999 with a magnitude of more than 7 killed almost 20,000 people in densely populated parts of the north-west of the country.
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