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| EARTHQUAKE IN TURKEY | |
 August 17, 1999 
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ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: The devastating earthquake in Turkey is our lead tonight. We have two reports from Independent Television News. The first is from Julian Manyon in Turkey.
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| Surviving the earthquake | |||||||||||
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According to local people, this one here may have fallen because the
top two stories were jerry built without official permission. And now
they're bringing out the bodies, ten of them so far, from beneath the
rubble. Turkey's Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit has declared a state of
emergency and is appealing for international help. In Izmit, medical
resources are so over stretched that hundreds of injured |
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| Shifting tectonic plates | |||||||||||
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BILL RICHARDSON: We were out on the 12th floor of a 13-story hotel building. And we were able to experience it. The ground was shaking. The walls were shaking. I think we were very lucky. ANDREW VEITCH: What do you think about this? Is there any American aid going to them? |
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| An immediate response in aid | |||||||||||
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AMERICAN TOURIST: We were very scared, but we didn't know what to do or where to go. So we just hung on to each other. AMERICAN TOURIST: The bed was going like this, and I had to stand up - it's the truth - stand up like this. I'm going back and forth, and back and forth, back and forth, and it went on for at least 45 seconds. It was a very long time, very scary. ANDREW VEITCH: Tens of thousands have been killed by earthquakes in Turkey over the last 60 years, 145 died last year alone, and there was a quake in Cyprus just four days ago. DR. ROGER MUSSON, British Geological Survey: In a country like Turkey there's an awful lot of building that goes on which really isn't strictly controlled. People are moving in from countryside to urban areas looking for jobs, and they're building any sort of houses that they can in any sort of place that they can. And often these buildings are badly constructed and very dangerous places.
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JULIAN
MANYON: The earthquake is one of the most powerful of recent years.
It struck at the worst possible time, in the early hours of the morning
when people were asleep in bed. Apartment blocks were reduced to piles
of rubble, with survivors desperately searching for families, friends,
and neighbors, who had been buried alive. Incredibly, under fallen rooftops
and tons of masonry people were clinging to life. Water was offered
to one survivor still trapped amid the devastation. And a young woman
who had first appeared dead moves her eyes, giving the rescue teams
hope and inspiration to carry on digging. Even in areas where whole
neighborhoods were flattened, they've been bringing out survivors, many
of them children. 
The
earthquake was centered on the industrial city of Izmit, but it caused
buildings to collapse and claimed lives in several towns and cities,
including Istanbul -- reveal the scale of the destruction, throughout
the day, casualty figures have mounted as rescuers clawed at the rubble
of the multistory apartment blocks which crashed to the ground.
In
some cities, whole neighborhoods have been destroyed. Building were
simply shaken until they collapsed, burying their occupants. In other
areas, the damage and deaths seemed a more random affair. One block
toppled while those around remained intact. The earthquake has also
cut major roads, in one place causing sections of a motorway bridge
to fall on top of a bus, inflicting still more casualties. Until the
early hours of this morning this was a working class district on the
outskirts of Istanbul. Then the earthquake struck and as if in some
giant Lottery some buildings swayed and survived, while others collapsed.
people
are being treated the hospital car park. Many have to wait in long queues,
while the most critical cases receive attention. All day the frantic
search has continued, uncovering more victims and more survivors to
join the hundred being treated in the hospitals. There are people whose
last memory was wishing their families good night and going to bed before
their world's turned upside down. This evening the desperate search
continues amid the rubble. Here a man is trapped in his bed by a fallen
ceiling. His leg is damaged, but he will survive. Turkish soldiers have
been using heavy lifting equipment to reach another victim who used
his free arm to signal that he is still alive. And the rescuers are
still being inspired by moments like this, when a baby boy was recovered
alive in tears. The child returned to the arms of a grateful father,
but tonight it is clear that many parents have not been so fortunate.
ANDREW
VEITCH: The Mediterranean is hit by hundreds of earthquakes each year.
It marks the border between two of the Earth's massive tectonic plates,
the Eurasian Plate and the African Plate: Chunks of the Earth's crust
floating on top of semi-molten rock. The African Plate is moving Northwest,
squeezing Turkey like an orange. The result is the Anatolian Fault.
It stretches right through the country. Most of the cities are built
on top of it. Today's quake was centered on Izmit, but it affected Istanbul,
55 miles to the West, and Ankara, 275 miles to the East. The U.S. Energy
Secretary was amongst those in Istanbul when the quake struck.
BILL
RICHARDSON: Yes. The United States is prepared to help. We're working
with the Turkish government to ensure that they get enough technical
assistance, earthquake relief.
ANDREW
VEITCH: Germany, France, and Italy are rushing experts to the area,
and the country's old enemy, Greece, is offering aid. The Turkish air
force is flying in tents for the thousands left homeless. Relief agencies
say that survivors need shelter away from the collapsing wreckage, and
above all, clean water to prevent disease spreading through the cities.