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Strong Tremor Kills at Least Two in Turkey
A strong earth tremor shook central Turkey early on Tuesday, killing at least two people and sending residents into the streets in the capital, Ankara.
Anatolian news agency said that initial reports had two killed and seven injured in outlying villages during the tremor, which struck at 0545 local time (0245 GMT) and lasted about 30 seconds. At least one building collapsed.
Ankara governor Yahya Gul told state TRT television that a boy was killed and two people were injured in the village of Yikaricavundur, some 60 Km (37 miles) from Ankara, when a three storey building collapsed. Two men were injured in a suburb of the capital when a gas pipeline exploded.
Anatolian news agency quoted the Prime Ministry's crisis centre as saying the quake registered 5.9 on the Richter scale and had its epicentre in Cerkes, a town of about 20,000, 100 km (60 miles) north of Ankara.
TRT quoted local authorities in Cerkes, close to the North Anatolian fault line, as saying one person was killed there when he jumped from a building in panic. Three others were injured in similar incidents. In the nearest big town, Cankiri, with a population of 150,000, people rushed out onto the street in fear of a second tremor.
The tremor was also felt in the Black Sea region, in the cities of Zonguldak and Kayseri and Corum in central Anatolia. It was not felt in the country's largest city, Istanbul.
Ankara police said there were no immediate reports of damage to buildings in the capital.
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