Nine Deaths After Earthquake Strikes Turkey-Iran Border
Nine deaths have been reported after an earthquake struck near the border between Turkey and Iran just before 9 a.m., local time, on 23 February 2020.
The first earthquake was reported to be a 5.7 on the Richter scale by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The epicenter was located about in Iran, west of Khoy, and affected villages across the border in the Turkish province of Van.
The location of the epicenter of the 5.7 magnitude earthquake that hit eastern Turkey and western Iran on Sunday and the areas estimated to have felt the shaking.
Following the first earthquake, three more sent tremors through the region a few hours later.
Houses are reduced to rubble after an earthquake hit villages in Baskale in Van province, Turkey, at the border with Iran on Feb. 23, 2020. Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said numerous people have been killed and several others wounded in Sunday’s quake with more people trapped under debris.
Shaking was felt across the Van and Hakkari provinces in eastern Turkey.
Residents in Yuksekova, Hakkari, located about 3 miles (4.75 km) from the epicenter, reported the most intense shaking. Buildings made of mud and bricks across this area were damaged and destroyed in the intense shaking.
Fourteen villages in western Iran have been affected by the earthquake. The Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD) said 144 tents for families had been dispatched, according to the Associated Press.
