6.8-Magnitude Earthquake Hits Turkey's Eastern Province of Elazığ

* Photos: Anadolu Agency (AA)

Click to read the article in Turkish (1) (2) (3)

The district of Sivrice in Elazığ was hit by a 6.8-magnitude earthquake at 8.55 p.m. yesterday evening (January 24).

According to a statement by the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), as of 4 p.m. today, 18 people in Elazığ and four people in the neighboring Malatya province have lost their lives in the earthquake. Two of the deceased in Elazığ reportedly died of an heart attack.

While the total number of the wounded has been announced as 1,243 people, the number of the wounded by provinces has been indicated by the AFAD as follows: 843 in Elazığ, 226 in Malatya, 43 in Diyarbakır, 25 in Adıyaman, six in Batman, 37 in Maraş and 63 in Urfa.

According to the statement of the AFAD, as of 4 p.m. today, Elazığ and its vicinity were hit by 14 over 4-magnitude earthquakes and 401 aftershocks following the 6.8-magnitude earthquake.

While four buildings have reportedly collapsed in central Elazığ as a result of the earthquake, those who stay in dormitories were taken to sports halls to spend the night there. In a statement released shortly after the earthquake, the Meteorological Service warned that temperatures could fall as low as minus seven to minus 12 degrees during the night.

42 people rescued from the debris

On the other side, in the search and rescue operations going on in the region, 42 people have been rescued from the debris of collapsed buildings in the village of Gezin in central Elazığ and in Doğanyol in Malatya.

"A total of 1,162 search and rescue personnel and 233 vehicles have been referred to the region, primarily consisiting of 39 AFAD provincial directorate teans, gendarmerie search and resecue officers as well as the National Medical Rescue (UMKE) and fire brigade crews of several cities", the AFAD previously announced in its statement.

Search and rescue operations still continue in the region. AFAD shared the below moment of rescue from Mustafa Paşa neighborhood in Elazığ.

#Elazığ merkezde bulunan Mustafa Paşa mahallesinde görev yapan arama kurtarma ekiplerimiz bir kişiye daha sağ olarak ulaşmıştır. pic.twitter.com/7qgD3wIqvU

— AFAD (@AFADBaskanlik) January 25, 2020

Later in the day today (January 25), the Ministry of Justice has announced that as partial cracks have opened in the walls of Adıyaman Closed Penal Institution, 814 arrestees and convicts are being transferred to the prisons in Antep, Urfa and Maraş as a precaution.

Earthquake felt in several provinces

With Elazığ as its epicenter, the 6.8-magnitude earthquake was also felt in the provinces of Adıyaman, Antep, Kayseri, Adana, Şırnak, Dersim, Sivas, Diyarbakır, Mardin, Malatya, Bingöl, Siirt, Maraş ve Batman gibi illerin dışında Samsun, Tokat, Çorum, Trabzon, Ordu, Giresun and Hatay.

Some scenes from the aftermath of the earthquake were as follows:

(RT/SD)