© ReutersA survivor being carried to the ambulance after an earthquake in Tabanli village near the eastern Turkish city of Van October 23, 2011.
Turkey's Kandilli Observatory estimates that some 500 to 1,000 people were killed in a powerful earthquake in southeast Turkey's Van province on Sunday, broadcaster CNN Turk reported.
Separately, Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay told reporters some 10 buildings had collapsed in Van city and around 25-30 buildings collapsed in the nearby district of Ercis.
The Turkish Red Crescent reported that 25 apartment buildings and one dormitory in the eastern town of Ercis have collapsed. The Red Crescent says its rescuers have pulled several injured people out of the collapsed dormitory
The magnitude 6.6 earthquake hit near Van in southeastern Turkey on Sunday, Turkey's Kandilli Observatory and Research Institute said.
The Geophysical Institute of Israel indicated that the quake was also felt in residential high rises in central Tel Aviv.
© AP Photo/ Abdurrahman Antakyali, AatoliaPeople try to save people trapped under debris in Tabanli village near the city of Van after a powerful earthquake struck eastern Turkey Sunday Oct. 23, 2011, collapsing some buildings and causing a number of deaths, an official said.
The Kandilli Observatory and Research Institute said the earthquake struck at 1041 GMT and was 5 km deep. The U.S. Geological Survey earlier reported that the magnitude was 7.6.
© AP Photo/ Abdurrahman Antakyali, AatoliaPeople try to save people trapped under debris in Tabanli village near the city of Van after a powerful earthquake struck eastern Turkey Sunday Oct. 23, 2011, collapsing some buildings and causing a number of deaths, an official said.
Two people were killed and 79 injured in May when an earthquake shook Simav in northwest Turkey.
Some turkish TV channels say the quake was 7,2 but the Kandilli Observatory says it is 6,6 and the depth was 5 km. which is quite shallow. This shallowness increases casualties. There were 3 aftershocks greater than 5. They showed a highway cracked in three places but not big enough to prevent traffic entirely.
Some years ago I had watched someone talk on TV. He had said Van is built on a valley that is unstable in terms of earthquakes.