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World - Europe

Earthquake strikes Turkey: At least 280 feared dead, 2,500 injured

August 17, 1999
Web posted at: 3:07 a.m. EDT (0707 GMT)


In this story:

Two oil refineries reported burning

Some 21 buildings in Istanbul reported damaged

RELATED STORIES, SITESicon



From staff and wire reports

ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- A powerful earthquake killed at least 280 people and injured 2,500 others in Western on Turkey Tuesday, according to early reports.

The quake's epicenter was near Izmit, a city some 65 miles (104 kilometers) east of Istanbul. At least 80 of the deaths were reported in the nearby town of Golcuk.

In Istanbul, a heavily crowded metropolis of 12 million people, at least a score of buildings collapsed into piles of rubble, and rescuers rushed survivors to hospitals.

Authorities said they recovered 40 bodies from the debris in Istanbul so far. They put the injury toll there at 500.

"They can hear the voices of my mother and sister but know nothing about my father and brother," said Arsu Yilmaz as she watched rescue workers digging at a building in Avcilar district. A five-year-old girl was extracted from the rubble unharmed.

Heavy casualties were also reported in the cities of Bursa, Eskisehir and Bolu. A seven-story building collapsed in Eskisehir.

Two oil refineries burned

An oil refinery burned in Izmit, authorities said.

In the northwestern city of Bursa, another oil refinery caught fire and a number of people were reported killed.

The earthquake was given a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 by the U.S. Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colorado, which monitors seismic activity worldwide. Turkish radio reported a 6.8-magnitude quake.

An earthquake registering between 7.0 and 7.9 is considered a "major" quake, capable of widespread, heavy damage.

Some 21 buildings in Istanbul reported damaged

Doctors at Istanbul's Kartel hospital said they were treating about 100 people injured by falling rubble. Local radio reported the quake damaged at least 21 buildings, and caused injuries and gas leaks that had erupted into fires across the city of 10 million.

The powerful tremor stuck at 3:02 a.m. (8:02 p.m. EDT Monday), cutting power and communications to much of the area.

CNN freelance reporter Andy Finkel was shaken out of his sleep.

"The house was shaking violently," he said. People in Istanbul have left their buildings and are standing in the street, he said. There was no electricity in his area of the city, on the Asian side of the Bosporus strait.

Much of Turkey sits on an earthquake prone zone known as the Anatolia fault. Izmit also sits on the fault line, said Ali Pinar, an official from Istanbul-based Kandilli observatory.

A 6.3-magnitude quake that struck Turkey on June 27, 1998, killed 144 people and injured over 1,500 in and around the southern city of Adana.

Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.


RELATED STORIES:
At least 100 feared dead in powerful Turkey quake
ugust 17, 1999
Major earthquake rocks northwestern Turkey
August 16, 1999


RELATED SITES:
News from Turkey
USGS National Earthquake Information Center
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