Ercis Earthquake
The BBC reports on the earthquake in Turkey near the Iranian border at 5:41AM CDT: Hundreds die as strong quake rocks eastern Turkey
A strong quake has shattered buildings near the Turkish city of Van, killing more than 200 people and trapping an unknown number under rubble.
Casualties are reported to be particularly high in the town of Ercis, close to the Iranian border, where dozens of buildings fell.
…The earthquake struck at 13:41 (10:41 GMT) at a depth of 20km (12.4 miles), with its epicentre 16km north-east of Van in eastern Turkey, the US Geological Survey said.
It was followed by a series of powerful aftershocks, also centred north of Van, including two of magnitude 5.6 soon after the quake and one of 6.0 late on Sunday.
There have been two dozen aftershocks, ranging from 4.0 to 6.0 which makes recovery dangerous, and the temperatures will be in the freezing range overnight.
The area gets a lot of earthquakes, and there are building codes that should have limited the loss of life and damage, but they are often badly enforced, especially when large projects are involved, which is why so many of those killed and trapped are in newer buildings that have ‘pancaked’.
