Earthquake demolishes homes in 2 Turkish villages
Pastor Dale Morgan
Earthquake demolishes homes in 2 Turkish villages*
POSTED: 1029 GMT (1829 HKT), January 21, 2007
Story Highlights
• No immediate reports of deaths from magnitude-5 temblor
• Homes knocked down in Yukarikosk and Cobanova, governor says
• Earthquakes frequent in Turkey, which lies on active fault lines
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- A moderate earthquake shook eastern Turkey on
Sunday, demolishing homes in at least two villages in the eastern
Turkish province of Agri, Governor Halil Ibrahim Akpinar said. There
were no immediate reports of any deaths.
The quake, with a preliminary magnitude of 5.0, was centered in the town
of Tutak, in Agri province, which borders Iran, the Istanbul-based
Kandilli Observatory said. It struck at 9:38 a.m. (0738 GMT).
The quake knocked down a number of homes in the villages of Yukarikosk
and Cobanova, Akpinar said. Snow was slowing down access to some of the
villages in the province, he said.
Derya Ozer, the daughter of the local administrator in Cobanova village,
said some houses and barns came down in the temblor, while others had
suffered cracks or other types of damage.
"But thank God there is nothing serious," she told CNN-Turk television.
"Everyone is waiting outside. Nobody will go back into their homes."
The tremor also caused a power outage in the village, she said.
The quake was felt in several areas around Agri and sent residents
running out of their homes in panic.
A magnitude-5 earthquake can potentially cause considerable damage
Earthquakes are frequent in Turkey, which lies on active fault lines.
Two devastating earthquakes hit northwestern Turkey in 1999, killing
some 18,000 people.