Numerous earthquake survivors huddled inside aid tents as well as around bonfires Monday in eastern Turkey, searching for help from the winter cold following a powerful quake destroyed stone and mud-brick homes within five communities, killing fifty-one people.
The actual destruction seemed most severe within the Kurdish small town of Okcular, which was nearly flattened. At the least fifteen from the village's nine hundred inhabitants had been killed, a village official said, the air was heavy with dust coming from destroyed houses and barns.
The early morning earthquake found numerous inhabitants sleeping, shaking the area's inadequately made structures into heaps of rubble. Panicking survivors ran in to the narrow roads of this small town sitting on a slope in front of the snow covered mountains, with some individuals climbing through windows in order to escape. The 6. magnitude earthquake struck at 4:32 a.m. local time. Residents are urged to not enter any affected houses, cautioning they might topple because of aftershocks that may last for several days. Over one hundred aftershocks measuring as much as 5.5 magnitude shook this area on Monday alone. As well as the fatalities, thirty four people were receiving treatment for injuries, a crisis center said.
Several deaths were in villages through this eastern area of Turkey. Many of the citizens have lost their homes and even their livelihoods from the loss of cattle and other livestock and their barns destroyed. Tents were set up as well as villagers spreading plastic sheeting in order to offer protection from the cold and dirt. The government said it rushed ambulance helicopters, prefabricated homes as well as portable kitchens within the troubled region. The mud-brick structures have been held responsible the region's numerous fatalities and the government housing agency would likely construct quake proof homes within the area.
