Earthquake rattles Turkey

Rescue workers battled freezing temperatures on Sunday to keep searching for survivors after a 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck Turkey’s eastern region. The Friday night quake in Elazig, about 350 miles east of Ankara, killed at least 41 people and injured more than 1,600 others. Workers have rescued about 45 people so far, and authorities have recorded nearly 950 aftershocks.

Was the country prepared for the disaster? Earthquakes are common in Turkey, which rests on two major fault lines. This quake destroyed 76 buildings and damaged more than 1,000 others. Emergency teams set up close to 10,000 tents for displaced residents and distributed 7,000 hot meals as temperatures dropped to 23 degrees overnight. Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu on Sunday said the country is also “seriously” preparing for a possible 7.5 magnitude earthquake in Istanbul, the largest city, after a 5.8 magnitude tremor in September.

Dig deeper: From the WORLD archives, read Jamie Dean’s report on the earthquakes that rocked Chile and Turkey in 2010.