Death Toll After 7.2 Earthquake in Turkey Rises

by Douglas V. Gibbs

UPDATE: Death toll rises to 366, more than 2,000 buildings collapsed in eastern Turkey quake, prime minister's office says.

A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 has struck southeastern Turkey. The massive quake triggered the collapse of buildings and the death toll is up to 85 at this point, and is expected to keep rising.

Emergency teams have become trapped in an effort to rescue people. Images of vehicles crushed under falling masonry, and panicked residents wandering in the streets, are coming out of the country.

Phone lines and electricity has been severed.

Aftershocks continue after the initial quake, with major geological faultlines crossing Turkey. Small earthquakes are a near daily occurrence. Two large quakes in 1999 killed more than 20,000 people in northwest Turkey.

Last May an earthquake in Turkey claimed the lives of seventy-nine.

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85 killed after Turkey earthquake, scientists expect death toll to rise - Associated Press/The Globe and Mail