Earthquake hits southeastern Turkey, many reported dead

HAKKARI, Turkey,  (Reuters) – A powerful earthquake  with a magnitude of 6.6 shook southeastern Turkey today,  Turkey’s Kandilli Observatory said, triggering the collapse of  buildings and killing many people, according to a local mayor.
State-run media reported 50 people had been injured, while  the prime minister’s office said the earthquake had caused a  loss of life and damage. No figures were available on the death  toll.
“A lot of buildings collapsed, many people killed, but we  don’t know the number. We are waiting for emergency help, its  very urgent,” Zulfukar Arapoglu, the mayor of Ercis district,  which was hit badly, told the news broadcaster NTV.
“We need tents urgently and rescue teams. We don’t have any  ambulances, and we only have one hospital. We have many killed  and injured,” he said.
Emergency teams were trying to rescue people believed to be  trapped in a building in Van, near the Iranian border, state-run  news agency Anatolian said. It said 50 injured people had been  taken to hospital in Van, but did not give details on how  serious their injuries were.
The Kandilli Observatory said the earthquake struck at 1041  GMT and was 5 km (3 miles) deep. The U.S. Geological Survey  earlier reported that the magnitude was 7.6.
Television pictures showed damaged buildings and vehicles,  crushed under falling masonry, and panicked residents wandering  in the streets.
Turkish media said phone lines and electricity had been cut  off. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was heading to Van to see the  damage, media reported.
Aftershocks continued after the initial quake, whose  epicentre was at the village of Tabanli, north of Van city, the  agency said.
In Hakkari, a town around 100 km (60 miles) south of the  city of Van in southeastern Turkey, a building could be felt  swaying for around 10 seconds during the quake.
There was no immediate sign of any casualties or damage in  Hakkari, around two and half hours drive through the mountains  from Van, around 20 km from the epicentre.
Major geological faultlines cross Turkey and small  earthquakes are a near daily occurrence. Two large quakes in  1999 killed more than 20,000 people in northwest Turkey.
Two people were killed and 79 injured in May when an  earthquake shook Simav in northwest Turkey.