Aid rushes to east Turkey after 7.3 quake

Turkey's government said it was mobilizing help for areas socked by a major earthquake that killed an unknown number of people Sunday. Search-and-rescue teams, heavy equipment and ambulances were dispatched to the eastern areas around Lake Van following a major quake that the U.S. Geological Survey in Colorado measured as a magnitude 7.3. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was expected to arrive in the area Sunday, his office said. Offers of assistance were pouring in as well. Israel, which has been at odds with Turkey over Palestinian relations, offered whatever help was required, the Israeli Defense Ministry said. CNN said citizens using flashlights and shovels were clearing away the rubble of collapsed buildings in Van and nearby cities. Ambulances and other vehicles were finding their way blocked by debris in the streets. An official death toll was still pending by evening; however, officials at the Kandilli seismology center in Istanbul told Today's Zaman the shaker had the potential to cause at least 1,000 deaths around the epicenter. The USGS and Kandilli both warned aftershocks would continue to rattle the seismically active area.