| Situation Update No. 9 Ref.no.: EQ-20100308-25238-TUR
Situation Update No. 9
On 2010-03-09 at 04:27:42 [UTC]
Event: Earthquake
Location: Turkey Province of Elazig Okcular village area
Number of Deads: 51 person(s)
Number of Injured: 74 person(s)
Situation: A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6 hit eastern Turkey on Monday, killing at least 51 people and knocking down houses in six villages. The mayor of the town of Kovancılar, Bekir Yanılmaz, said the victims of the quake were from the villages of Göçmeler, Okçular, Yukarı Kanatlı, Aºağı Kanatlı, Yukarı Demirci and Aºağı Demirci, where it toppled stone and mud-brick homes and the minarets of mosques. The government's crisis center said an additional 74 people were injured in the quake, which occurred at 4:32 a.m. in Elazığ province, about 550 kilometers east of Ankara, while most people were still sleeping. The government initially put the death toll at 57 but later lowered it to 51. It gave no explanation for the discrepancy. In addition to the deaths, about 34 people were being treated for quake-related injuries while 40 were released from hospitals, the government's crisis center said on Monday. It was centered near the town of Baºyurt and was followed by more than 41 aftershocks, according to İstanbul's Kandilli Observatory seismology center. In nearby villages, people lit fires to keep warm after rushing out of their houses in panic before dawn.
The quake toppled the minarets of three mosques in villages in the area, said Elazığ Governor Muammer Erol. The temblor also knocked down barns, killing farm animals. “The number of people injured is not clear. Ambulances keep on going back and forth. Rescue work is continuing. Our gendarmerie and civil defense teams are at work,” Erol said. “Everything has been knocked down; there is not a stone in place,” said Yadın Apaydın, the head of the village of Yukarı Kanatlı, where he said at least three villagers died. Authorities blocked access to Okçular village, where most of the deaths occurred, to facilitate the entry and exit of ambulances and rescue teams on the village’s narrow roads. Relatives rushed to the village for news of their loved ones. The quake was felt in the neighboring provinces of Tunceli, Bingöl and Diyarbakır, where residents fled out into the streets in panic and spent the rest of the night outdoors. Some of the injuries occurred during the panic, when people jumped from windows or balconies. Kandilli Observatory Director Mustafa Erdik urged residents not to enter damaged homes, warning that they could topple during aftershocks, which could last for days. The strongest aftershock, of 5.5 magnitude, occurred in Baºyurt at 9:47 a.m. The Elazığ deputy provincial education director yesterday announced that schools had been given a two-day break due to the quake. Schools were also closed in neighboring Tunceli for two days.
Search-and-rescue teams started arriving in the region soon after the quake. Gendarmes and police directed operations on the outskirts of affected villages, where crowds had gathered. A Red Crescent (Kızılay) team of 20 people reached the area early in the morning and set up a crisis center, while rescuers searched for survivors still trapped under the rubble. The team brought 250 tents and 1,000 blankets to the region and set up a mobile kitchen. The Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There) association’s Elazığ branch also went to the disaster area yesterday and distributed 3,000 bottles of water and juice to the victims. In addition, the association’s Gaziantep branch also arrived in the region with food supplies, blankets, carpets and cleaning materials. Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek, Health Minister Recep Akdağ, Public Works and Housing Minister Mustafa Demir and State Minister Cevdet Yılmaz visited Elazığ yesterday. Four Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputies, including CHP parliamentary group deputy chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, also went to Elazığ yesterday. The Turkey-based Humanitarian Aid Foundation (İHH) sent its teams based in Elazığ, Bingöl, Maltya and Diyarbakır to the disaster area shortly after the quake. While some members of the aid teams began distributing blankets, coats and food to the quake victims, others participated in search-and-rescue efforts. In a written statement from the İHH, foundation officials said another team from İstanbul was also set to arrive in Elazığ soon. A team of 17 people from the neighboring province of Erzincan comprising six health personnel and 11 rescue workers was also sent to Elazığ. Aid teams were also sent to the region from a number of provinces such as Konya, Gaziantep, Sivas and Diyarbakır. President Abdullah Gül made a statement yesterday, sending his condolences to the families of quake victims while adding that all of the facilities of the state have been mobilized. The Elazığ governor announced yesterday afternoon that there were no people left under the debris.
The high death toll from the quake is considered by many to be due to the construction of adobe buildings, which is prevalent in the region. Speaking at a meeting held at the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) headquarters on the occasion of International Women’s Day, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressed his grief over the Elazığ quake. “Those we have lost are the cause of our worst grief. Adobe-style construction is the architectural style of the region. Unfortunately, the price of this style has been very high for Turkey,” he said. The prime minister also said he instructed the Housing Development Administration of Turkey (TOKİ) to launch a project to reconstruct the region. “I ask our citizens in the region not to enter damaged houses since aftershocks are continuing,” he added, expressing his condolences to the families of the victims. Erdik also said yesterday that the quake was not that strong relative to the potential strength of an earthquake in the region. He said the area where the quake occurred was at the intersection of Turkey’s two major fault lines, the North Anatolian fault and the East Anatolian fault. Many experts also said a high-magnitude quake has long been expected along the East Anatolian fault line and complained that their warnings had been ignored. Professor Naci Görür from İstanbul Technical University’s (İTÜ) mining engineering department said the area Elazığ is located in is earthquake prone. “This was discussed in recent meetings. However, I saw that our people are not well-informed about quakes. Our people and administrators are not taking warnings seriously,” he said. Professor Mehmet Önal from the Malatya-based İnönü University also told the Anatolia news agency that 25 foreshocks had been reported in the last 20 days. He said yesterday’s was the major quake, saying it is not possible to determine whether another major quake will follow the aftershocks.
Another professor at İTÜ’s Eurasia Institute of Earth Sciences, Okan Tüysüz, said a magnitude 6 earthquake should not have resulted in such high death toll. “The buildings in Turkey are unfortunately not prepared for quakes. A magnitude 6 quake does not even damage buildings in a developed country,” he added. Earthquakes are frequent in Turkey, much of which lies on top of the North Anatolian fault. In 1999, two powerful earthquakes struck northwestern Turkey, killing about 18,000 people. In 2007, a 5.7 magnitude earthquake damaged buildings in Elazığ, briefly trapping a woman under debris. In 2003, an earthquake measuring 6.4 magnitude caused a school dormitory in the neighboring province of Bingöl to collapse, killing 83 children. The collapse was blamed on poor construction. |
20:27 | 
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