Death toll in Turkish quake exceeds 200

PanARMENIAN.Net - Rescue teams on Monday, October 23, sifted through rubble of flattened multistory buildings to try to reach dozens of people believed trapped beneath after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Turkey, Hurriyet Daily News reports.

The Interior Minister said the death toll in the powerful quake has increased to 217.

Hundreds of rescue teams worked throughout the night searching for survivors among dozens of pancaked buildings, as aid groups scrambled to set up tents, field hospitals and kitchens to assist thousands left homeless.

Interior Minister Idris Naim Şahin said about 80 multistory buildings collapsed in the city of Erciş alone when the earthquake struck Sunday. He said some 40 buildings still had people trapped inside, giving rise to fears that the death toll could increase substantially. The minister did not give any estimates.

The hardest-hit area was Erciş, an eastern city of 75,000 close to the Iranian border and on one of Turkey's most earthquake-prone zones. The bustling city of Van, about 55 miles (90 kilometers) south of Erciş, also sustained substantial damage. Highways in the area caved in.

Şahin said 117 were killed in Erciş, another 100 died in Van while some 740 people were injured.

Around 1,275 rescue teams from 38 provinces were being sent to the region, officials said, and troops were also assisting search-and-rescue efforts.