7.2 Earthquake Hits Turkey Yesterday – Hundreds Dead, Thousands Trapped

Recent figures place the death toll at 138 and growing, after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake shook the ground in Turkey. One of the areas hardest hit by the quake the village of Ercis, located in Turkey’s eastern province of Van.

As seen in the map of Turkey, the earthquake was centered in the town of Tabanli, located near the Turkish border with Iran

In addition to the dead, thousands are estimated injured. With very poor building codes, in comparison to the western world, an estimated 80 buildings in the city collapsed killing at least 50 people.

Compounding the problem for the trapped residents in the city of 75,000 is the lack of heavy machinery needed to lift the massive concrete slabs which collapsed on victims.

Assuring his people that help is coming, the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan mobilized the army, and has promised to deliver rescue services and relief supplies to the areas impacted by the earthquake.

“We won’t leave any citizen in the cold,” Erdogan said as he spoke in the in the provincial capital Van.