Powerful M 6.7 earthquake struck Turkey: At least 31 casualties

At least 31 people were reported dead and numerous were injured after a massive earthquake struck in eastern Turkey.

The temblor occurred at 9:00 pm local time, on Friday, January 24, 2020, in Turkey's Elazig province and its epicenter was located close to Sivrice town. The seismic shock struck at a depth of 10 kilometers at a point where the Arabian Plate is moving northward, colliding with the Eurasian Plate at a rate of 21 millimeters annually. 

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake occurred on a strike-slip fault that is on or near the boundary between the Anatolia Block of the Eurasian Plate and the Arabian Plate. 

The earthquake was particularly destructive due to its magnitude and its epicentral distance. According to Dr. David Rothery, Professor of Planetary Geosciences at UK's Open University, the energy of the shock could not be absorbed before the vibrations reached the surface of the ground. “This particular earthquake began at a depth of about only 10km. This is so shallow that there was not much rock in the way to absorb the strength of the seismic waves radiating from the source before they reached the surface, hence the ground shaking was stronger than it would have been for a deeper earthquake of the same magnitude,” Prof. Rothery, stated.

The massive seismic incident that lasted around 40 seconds, was also felt in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria. It was followed by about 700 aftershocks, 14 of them larger than M 4.

Buildings suffered critical damage with many of them totally collapsing. People are devastated. “Our houses collapsed…we cannot go inside them. In our village, some people lost their lives. I hope God will help us. Our animals died. Our families gathered around the fire to spend the night, covered with blankets," Sinisi, a resident from Sivrice, stated.

Rescue teams including about 3700 personnel rushed to the affected areas to pull people out of the rubble and aid the injured ones. Rescue crews utilized several digging means including drills, mechanical diggers or even their bare hands and managed to save 45 people, in total, at 3 locations. Temperatures that reached as low as -8 °C (18 °F) made the operations even more challenging. 

Many victims are accommodated in public buildings including schools and sports facilities. Blankets and beds have been provided to the affected people. Turkish Airlines arranged additional flights from Ankara and Istanbul to Elazig province in order to facilitate the transport operations.

On Sunday, January 26, 2020, the rescue operations were gradually completed. However, some emergency crews are trying to save 6 more people that must still be trapped under the rubble. “It has been around 36 hours (since the earthquake), but we are still in the hours where we can hope,” Suleyman Soylu, Turkey's Minister of the Interior, stated.