Eight Dead After 5.7 Earthquake Hits Turkey [Updated]
[Updated | Nov. 10 12:30 p.m. The Associated Press reported Thursday that at least eight people were killed in the quake including a Japanese aid worker. About 26 people were rescued overnight from the rubble. Rescue workers continue to search for survivors in the downtown hotel which toppled in Wednesday's earthquake.]
Turkish television reported Wednesday that after a 5.7-magnitude earthquake in the eastern province of Van more than 50 people are still trapped in a six-story hotel which toppled in the earthquake.
State media reported Wednesday that about 20 buildings have collapsed, just two weeks after a large earthquake killed an estimated 600 people in the same region.
Voices could be heard calling for help from under the debris. At least 10 people have been pulled from the rubble.
Some of the buildings that fell Wednesday had been previously damaged by the earlier quake.
Television footage showed residents and rescuers attempting to move debris and rescue those trapped in the rubble.
Turkey's Kandilli seismology center said the quake struck on Wednesday at 9:23 p.m. local time (11:23 a.m. PDT).
Local NTV television said rescue teams are on their way from the capital of Ankara and other areas.
Approximately 1,400 aftershocks have rocked the region since the Oct. 23 earthquake. Today's earthquake is the largest to occur since. Many local residents have been sleeping in the tents, in fear of returning to their homes. At least 2,000 buildings were destroyed and another 3,700 were deemed uninhabitable.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
