UK offers help to quake victims

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague offered British help to earthquake-stricken Turkey as the death toll from the natural disaster continued to rise, it was announced Monday. Hague sent his "deepest condolences" to friends and loved ones of those affected when the 7.2-magnitude quake struck eastern Turkey yesterday, the Foreign Office said. Hundreds of people are already confirmed to have died and there are fears that up to 1,000 people could have been killed due to low housing standards and the size of the quake. In a statement, Hague said the quake had "caused immense destruction, resulting in terrible loss of life". He went on "I send my deepest condolences to the friends and loved ones of those who have died or been affected. "My thoughts are with those who are anxiously awaiting news from the rescue efforts. "The UK is ready to provide assistance, in line with any request from the Turkish authorities. We stand with Turkey at this difficult time." Ercis, a town in the mountainous province of Van close to the Iranian border, was the hardest hit, reports said. The regional centre of Van, 55 miles to the south, also suffered substantial damage. US scientists recorded eight aftershocks within three hours of the quake, including two with a magnitude of 5.6. Mustafa Erdik from Turkey's main seismography centre said they were estimating a death toll of between 500 and 1,000. The Turkish Red Crescent - a branch of the Red Cross that operates in Muslim countries - said its volunteers were working to provide aid for people in the disaster-stricken area. It said the quake was the most powerful to hit Turkey in over a decade, and equal to the one that struck Haiti early in 2010. Turkey has been hit by frequent earthquakes - its worst in 1939 in Erzincan, causing an estimated 160,000 deaths. More recently, a 6.0-magnitude quake in March 2010 killed 51 people in eastern Turkey, while in 2003, a 6.4-magnitude quake killed 177 people in the south-eastern city of Bingol. In 1999, two earthquakes with a magnitude of more than 7 struck north-western Turkey, killing about 18,000 people.