Earthquake near Iran border kills nine in eastern Turkey

Duvar English/Reuters

Nine people died in the Başkale district of the eastern province of Van on Feb. 23 after a magnitude-5.9 earthquake struck near the border with Iran.

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Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said that 2 people wounded in the earthquake were in critical condition.

Turkish TV footage showed people digging through rubble with shovels as well as crumbled exterior walls of homes, cracks in roads and residents outside in the snow.

The European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said the quake had a depth of 5 km. Iranian officials said it had been felt in Iran but that there were no immediate reports of deaths.

The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) had begun rescue work, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said.

Crisscrossed by major fault lines, Iran and Turkey are among the most earthquake-prone countries in the world.

An earthquake last month in eastern Turkey killed more than 40 people while another in Iran did structural damage to homes without causing any fatalities.

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An Iranian official told state TV that rescue teams had been dispatched to the area. "So far, we've had no reports of damage or fatalities in the area, which is not a populated area in Iran's West Azarbaijan province," the official said.

But another local official said "it is very likely that there will be casualties and damage", Iran's state TV reported. The official said the earthquake was felt in several towns including Khoy, Urmiah and Salmas. He said about 43 villages in Iran were affected.

"Some 43 villages in the area suffered 10 percent to 100 percent damage, But we had no reports of deaths, only injuries," he told state TV.