A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck the eastern section of Turkey on Sunday afternoon. The quake occurred nine miles north-northeast of Van, Turkey, which has a population of 372,000.
Scores of buildings have been demolished throughout the region, and close to 300 lives have been lost, according to the latest count.
Following are some early photos of the damage left behind (click next to begin slideshow).
(Credit: AP Photo/ Abdurrahman Antakyali, Aatolia) TURKEY OUT
People try to save people trapped under debris in Tabanli village near the city of Van on Oct. 23.
Catastrophe modeler AIR-Worldwide says that if USGS estimates of the magnitude of the quake remain unchanged, this would be the largest earthquake to strike Turkey since the magnitude 7.2 Duzce earthquake in 1999, which killed close to 1,000 people. Another quake earlier that year of magnitude 7.6 killed nearly 20,000 near Izmit in northwest Turkey.
(Credit: AP Photo/ Abdurrahman Antakyali, Anatolia) TURKEY OUT
Shocked people seen in the city center of Van after the earthquake on Sunday Oct. 23.
The BBC puts the latest death toll at 265 people, with another 1,140 injured. Catastrophe modeler Risk Management Solutions says local officials estimate the number of fatalities could rise to as high as 1,000 from this earthquake.
(Credit: AP Photo/Selcan Hacaoglu)
A man sits on a brick near the debris of a collapsed building in the town of Ercis in Van province on Monday, Oct. 24.
Ercis and Sarmansuyu are the two closest towns to Van, and have populations of 92,000 and 7,000 respectively. The USGS estimates these towns would have suffered moderate to heavy damage from the earthquake while the population in Van would have suffered heavy damage to structures.
(Credit: AP Photo/ Ali Ihsan Ozturk, Aatolia) TURKEY OUT
People rescue a woman trapped under debris.
According to news reports, nearly 1,000 buildings were destroyed by the earthquake and dozens of people are feared trapped.
(Credit: AP Photo/Selcan Hacaoglu)
An elderly man passes by a collapsed building on Monday, Oct. 24.
Catastrophe modelers have not provided loss estimates yet, saying that more time is needed to compile information. RMS says in the Van region, the Turkish Catastrophe Insurance Pool (TCIP), which covers only earthquakes, provides insurance to cover approximately 7 percent of dwellings.
The TCIP relies on risk retention and reinsurance, retaining the first $80 million of losses and transfers excess losses to the international reinsurance markets.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
