Photo Speak: Massive Earthquake Hits Turkey

Up to 1,000 people were feared dead today after a powerful earthquake hit Turkey.

The 7.2-magnitude tremor devastated parts of Van province in the east of the country, collapsing dozens of buildings into piles of twisted steel and chunks of concrete.

Desperate survivors dug into the rubble with their bare hands, trying to rescue the trapped and injured.

The worst hit was Ercis, a town of 75,000 close to the Iranian border in one of Turkey's most earthquake-prone zones. Twenty-five to 30 buildings collapsed including a dormitory.

At least 85 have been killed and 150 injured, but scientists estimated that up to 1,000 people could be dead, due to low housing standards in the area and the size of the quake.  

An eight-storey building with shops underneath was flattened. Residents sobbed outside the ruins, hoping that missing relatives would be rescued.

CNN-Turk television showed one young man crying: 'My wife and child are inside! My 4-month-old baby is inside!'

Witnesses said eight people were rescued from the rubble, but frequent aftershocks were hampering search efforts.     

'There are so many dead, but we don't know the number,' town mayor Zulfukar Arapoglu told NTV.

Camps were being set up to shelter people and blankets, food and water were being sent along with mobile kitchens. Military aircraft were helping with the rescue and relief efforts.

Emergency teams were trying to rescue people believed to be trapped in a building in Van, a bustling city with many apartment buildings near the Iranian border, state-run news agency Anatolian said

Residents ran onto the streets in panic as 50 wounded were taken to the hospital there, but it was not known how serious their injuries were. They were treated in the courtyard of the hospital, the state-run Anatolia news agency said.

 

The Kandilli Observatory said the earthquake struck at 1041 GMT and was 5km deep. The U.S. Geological Survey earlier reported that the magnitude was 7.6.