Great
Earthquakes In Diverse Places
New Earthquake hits eastern Turkey
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) – A magnitude-5.2 quake early Tuesday shook
eastern Turkey — already devastated by two powerful tremors, the
Kandilli observatory said.
Turkish rescue workers search for survivors in the rubble of a
collapsed hotel.
The latest quake hit Van province but there was no immediate
report of damage or injuries, state-run Anatolia news agency said.
Its epicenter was in the village of Mollakasim, the observatory
said in a statement.
Previous quakes have turned Van, the provincial capital of half a
million, into a virtual ghost town, Gov. Munir Karaloglu said
Monday. He called for urgent relief aid for survivors.
Last month's magnitude-7.2 quake and a magnitude-5.7 quake last
week flattened some 2,000 buildings, killed 644 people and left
thousands homeless in the eastern province, where an unusually
cold November is forcing survivors to endure even more suffering.
Very few state-owned buildings in the capital survived the quake,
Karaloglu told the state-run Anatolia news agency. Many residents
have fled because they fear going back into their homes even if
they are not damaged.
"It is a ghost city," said Karaloglu. "Almost none of the
buildings are in use."
Karaloglu called on the country to show "even more mercy" in the
face of mounting needs, ranging from housing to food and warm
clothing.
The remaining homeless were suffering through unseasonably frosty
weather. The Anatolia agency cited weather officials as saying
Monday that temperatures dipped as low as -15 degrees Celsius (5
degrees Fahrenheit) overnight in the town of Ercis, which was the
worst hit by the first quake.
The HaberTurk newspaper reported that a 7-year-old handicapped
girl who had been living in makeshift tent died of pneumonia in
Ercis on Sunday. Her father claimed that he could not obtain a
proper tent from authorities, the newspaper report.
Several countries, including the United States and Israel, have
sent in tents and prefabricated homes.