DOGUBAYAZIT - Eighteen people died in an earthquake which jolted Dogubayazit town of eastern Agri province early on Friday, officials said.
Officials put the death toll of the earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale as 18, announcing the number of injured as 21 in the same village.
The officials said that four people were injured in Karabulak and Sagliksuyu villages.
Ataturk University Seismology Center said that the quake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale was centered on Dogubayazit town and rocked the area around 1.31 a.m.
The tremor caused panic among citizens, while teams rushed into Yigincal, Sagliksuyu and Karabulak villages after preliminary reports of casualties.
In the meantime, people who were injured in the earthquake in Yigincal, Sagliksuyu and Karabulak villages were hospitalized in Dogubayazit and Igdir.
The Red Crescent sent 500 tents, 500 blankets and two mobile kitchens to the quake zone.
Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) sent a company and six ambulances to the quake zone to join search and rescue efforts. TSK has also pitched 43 tents in Yigilcali, Sagliksuyu, Asagiyigilca and Karabulak villages and dispatched mobile kitchen, potable water, blankets and first aid equipment to the region.
Two devastating earthquakes had rocked eastern Erzurum province on March 25th and 28th, killing 18 people in Askale town and its villages. These two earthquakes were measuring 5.1 and 5.3 on the Richter scale.
(BRC-ULG) 02.07.2004