Epress.am News from Armenia
Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan thanked other countries for offers of help, including Israel and Armenia, but said Turkey was able to cope with the effects of the earthquake that struck Van and Ercis on Sunday by itself, Reuters reports.
A Reuters source in Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reportedly declared that Turkey received several offers of assistance, however, has not accepted any of them save for Azerbaijan, its rescuers of which are currently working in the disaster zone.
Erdogan visited the town of Ercis by helicopter to see the scale of devastation. On return to Van city he said in a televised statement that at least 93 people had been confirmed dead in Van city and 45 in Ercis, some 100 km (60 miles) to the north. An official at the provincial crisis center had earlier said officials had received patchy information so far and the casualty toll would undoubtedly rise.
Recall, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck Turkey’s eastern Van region on Sunday, resulting in hundreds of casualties and many more injured. Aftershocks continue to be felt today.
The quake was also felt in neighboring Armenia, at a magnitude of up to 5.0 in some parts of the country.