More than 2,300 people lost their lives in severe earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, CNN reported close to 10:00 a.m. EST Monday. The quakes that started around 4 a.m. local time destroyed thousands of buildings in the region around the epicenter near Southeastern Turkish town Nurdagi. A reading of 7.8 on the Richter scale was reached.
The earthquake activity was one of the strongest in this location in a century and was caused by tensions between the Eurasian and the African plates in one of the most geologically active zones in the world. Since 1990 alone, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has registered 58 earthquakes in the region - four of them with a magnitude of 7 or more, which are considered major earthquakes usually causing serious damage. Another country from the region, Iran, is also among the countries with the most earthquake activity in the last three decades.
Two large Asian countries were affected by the most quakes in the given time frame: China (182) and Indonesia (161). More heavily affected places in Asia are Japan, India and the Philippines. With 23 tremors, Italy is one of the most endangered regions in Europe.
