RSOE Emergency and Disaster Information Service

Situation Update No. 2

Posted:2010-03-08, 04:11:16 [UTC]

Ref.no.: EQ-20100308-25238-TUR

Situation Update No. 2
On 2010-03-08 at 04:32:43 [UTC]

Event: Earthquake
Location: Turkey Province of Elazig Okcular village area

Number of Deads: 5 person(s)

A strong earthquake killed five people in eastern Turkey on Monday, a provincial official said. Turkey's Kandilli earthquake observatory said the quake measured 6.0 magnitude and had its epicentre at Basyurt in Elazig province and struck at 4:32 am local time (0232 GMT). Five people were killed in the village of Okcular in Elazig province, the provincial governor Muammer Erol. Broadcaster CNN Turk said there were reports of more people trapped under rubble. More than a dozen smaller aftershocks followed the main quake, Kandilli said. Panicked residents rushed out of their houses onto the streets when the quake hit and many stayed outside fearing aftershocks in the town of Tunceli, some 40 miles (64 km) from the epicentre of the quake. The U.S. Geological Survey measured the quake at 5.9 magnitude and said it had a shallow depth of 6.2 miles. Quakes of magnitude 6 and higher are capable of causing severe damage. "There was a lot of fear and panic among the people. It lasted about a minute. We felt it very strongly and everyone tried to get out onto the street," Nursel Sengezer, a Dogan News Agency correspondent in Karakocan, told broadcaster CNN Turk.