A 6.8 magnitude earthquake rocked parts of Turkey’s Elazig province, causing buildings to collapse for miles around. Tremors were felt in neighboring countries, including in northeastern Syria and parts of the Kurdistan Region.
In Saturday’s phone call, Barzani extended his condolences to the victims and family members of those who lost their lives in the earthquake and hoped for a speedy recovery for the injured.
Elazig witnessed at least 10 aftershocks, the strength of which exceeded four degrees on the Richter scale, with the total estimated to have reached 148.
After going to the area with other ministers to oversee rescue operations, Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca said 13 people had died in Elazig and five others in the neighboring province of Malatya.
The official death toll has risen to 31 deaths and over 1,200 injuries due to the earthquake, health officials in Turkey reported.
Turkey has a history of strong earthquakes. In August 1999, over 17,000 people were killed when a 7.6 magnitude quake struck the city of Izmit in the country’s west, located 90 kilometers southeast of Istanbul, reportedly displacing about 500,000 people.
In 2011, a 7.1 earthquake occurred in the Kurdish city of Van, on Turkey’s eastern border with Iran, killing close to 600 people.
Reporter's code: 50101