At least 18 dead, more than 500 injured as quake hits Turkey

ANKARA, Turkey — 
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake rocked a sparsely populated part of eastern Turkey on Friday, killing at least 18 people, injuring more than 500 and leaving some 30 trapped in the wreckage of toppled buildings, Turkish officials said.
Rescue teams from neighboring provinces were dispatched to the affected areas, working in the dark with floodlights in the freezing cold, and Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said troops were on standby to help.
Hundreds of residents were left homeless or with damaged homes.
TV footage showed rescuers pull out one injured person from the rubble of a collapsed building in Elazig province’s Gezin district. About 30 people were believed to be trapped inside collapsed structures in the province, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said. A video take at the scene shows residents running after the quake hit and emergency vehicles near a damaged building.
Health Minister Fahrettin Koca, who traveled to the afflicted area with Soylu, said 13 people were killed in Elazig province, including two who suffered heart attacks, and five others died in the neighboring province of Malatya. A total of 553 people were hurt, including 11 who were in serious condition, officials said.
Some 30 buildings had collapsed from the quake in the two provinces, according to Murat Kurum, the environment minister.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Twitter that all measures were being taken to “ensure that the earthquake that occurred in Elazig and was felt in many provinces is overcome with the least amount of loss.”
The quake struck at 8:55 p.m. local time at a depth of 4.2 miles near the town of Sivrice in Elazig, the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency said. It was followed by several aftershocks, the strongest with magnitudes 5.4 and 5.1.
Elazig province is about 460 miles east of the capital, Ankara.
People in Elazig whose homes were damaged or who were too afraid to go indoors were being moved to student dormitories or a sports center amid freezing conditions.
Elazig Gov. Cetin Oktay Kaldirim told NTV television that a fire broke out in a building in Sivrice, near the epicenter, but was quickly brought under control.
Turkey sits on top of two major fault lines, and earthquakes are frequent. Two strong earthquakes struck northwest Turkey in 1999, killing about 18,000 people.
A magnitude 6 earthquake killed 51 people in Elazig in 2010.

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-01-24/turkey-earthquake