Mud-bricks houses turned into graves

For years, experts have warned of an impending earthquake in Elazığ, and yesterday their predictions came true. A 6.0 magnitude earthquake, with an epicenter located in the Başyurt district, resulted in 51 deaths and 34 injured.

Those that died all lived in mud-brick houses with the death toll concentrated in five villages. The quake took place at 4:32 am and lasted for approximately one minute. Following the major earthquake, 110 aftershocks were recorded, the highest of which measured 5.5 on the Richter scale.  

According to sources, no one remains trapped under rubble. However, practically all of the deaths that took place occurred in mud-brick homes, which crumbled under the quake’s force.  

The 6.0 earthquake took place following a number of smaller tremors along the Easter Anatolian Fault Line and resulted in 51 deaths, including children. The district governorship has released the following figures: 18 deaths were from the Okçular village, 4 were from Kayalık, 4 in the Yukarı Kanatlı village, 4 in Göçmezler and 15 were killed in the Yukarı Demirci village. Six were stated to have passed away while being taken to the hospital. There were no deaths in the city center; those that passed away lived in mud-brick houses in villages. Aftershocks, spanning from 2.3 to 5.5 in magnitude continued for 18 hours after the quake.  

It turns out there were a number of warnings issued for an anticipated earthquake in the region. Just ten days ago, information on the matter had been passed to the parliament. Meanwhile, four stations in Marmara were alarmed four hours prior to the quake.