30 dead, schoolchildren buried as strong earthquake hits east Turkey

ANKARA (AFP) May 01, 2003
Some 30 people died and 135 boarding school pupils were buried under rubble when an earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale hit the eastern Turkish province of Bingol early Thursday, reports said.

Bingol Governor Avni Cos said the 30 died as several buildings collapsed in the centre of Bingol city and electricity was cut off, private NTV television reported. Soldiers were taking part in rescue work, he added.

Housing Minister Zeki Ergezen said 135 primary school students were buried after the establishment collapsed in Celtiksuyu, a dozen kilometres (seven miles) from the provincial capital.

But 50 of the children had been rescued, the semi-official Anatolia news agency said quoting deputy Bingol governor Huseyin Oner.

At least seven buildings collapsed in the centre of Bingol, NTV said.

The quake occurred at 3:27 am (0037 GMT) and caused "considerable" damage, TRT public television said.

Many injured people had been hospitalized, it said. Several villages were inaccessible.

Soldiers from the Bingol garrison were taking part in the rescue work.

The Strasbourg Observatory in France said the epicentre of the quake was situated in the Diyarbakir region at 38.94 degrees latitude and 40.90 longitude.

Turkey is crossed by several active faultlines including one in northern Anatolia which caused the death of more than 20,000 people in quakes in August and November 1999 east of the Marmara Sea.

SPACE.WIRE