Abstract
THE first official estimate of the earthquake losses was given to the Kamutay on January 11 by the Health Minister, who said that there were 23,131 dead and 7,994 injured and that 29,131 houses had been ruined. Further news of the disaster comes from the affected areas as communications are restored. The Susheri district north-east of Erzinjan had been completely cut off for a fortnight except for the dropping of food and medicaments by a squadron of aeroplanes. There were 3,950 dead and 590 injured. It appears that the Malatia Erzinjan railway was not so greatly affected by the earthquake as the Sivas Erzinjan line, though the blizzards and snow affected this line tremendously. According to eye-witness accounts from Rechadiye, there were crevices 400 yards long and several yards wide in different directions. Streams and rivulets have changed their courses. At a place 12 kilometres from Rechadiye a mountain had its shape completely altered, giant precipices being formed and roads being blocked. The Yeshil-Irmak overflowed and further threatened Amasya.
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The Earthquake in Turkey. Nature 145, 96 (1940). https://doi.org/10.1038/145096a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/145096a0