Turkey Earthquake – 5.9 Earthquake Magnitude

A Turkey earthquake on Monday has already killed more than 50 people. The Kandilli seismology center said the 6.0-magnitude quake hit at 4:32 a.m. (0232 GMT, 9 p.m. EST Sunday) near the village of Basyurt in a remote, sparsely populated area of Elazig province. The region is 340 miles (550 kilometers) east of Ankara, the capital.

The U.S. Geological Survey listed the quake at 5.9 magnitude.

The worst-hit area was the village of Okcular, where 19 of the village’s 900 residents were killed.

Earthquakes are frequent in Turkey, much of which lies on top of two main fault lines. In 1999, two powerful earthquakes struck northwestern Turkey, killing about 18,000 people.