Monday, March 22, 2010

Turkey earthquake aftermath

A pre-dawn earthquake collapsed homes and killed more than 50 people in a mountainous region of southeastern Turkey, government officials said.About 71 others were injured when the earthquake struck at 4:32 a.m., according to officials. The U.S. Geological Survey registered the quake at magnitude 5.9, while the Turkish earthquake monitoring center listed it as a 6.0.The quake struck in Elazig province, with the village of Okcular the worst hit, according to Ozcan Yalcin, the press secretary for the province's governor.The quake killed 51 people, the office of the Prime Minister and Crisis Center in Elazig province said. The death toll revises an earlier report by Turkey Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek that at least 57 people had died. There was no further detail on the discrepancy.
Dozens of aftershocks, ranging up to magnitude 5.5, shook the region in the hours after the quake.

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