Turkish earthquake spreads across YouTube [Video]

Like the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the shootings in Oslo earlier this year, footage of the recent 7.2 magnitude earthquake which devastated parts of Eastern Turkey has found its way onto YouTube. As many as 264 people are feared dead with more than 1 000 injured.

The city worst affected by the quake is the mostly Kurdish settlement of Van, which is on the Iranian border, about 1 200km away from the Turkish capital Ankara. The area is relatively impoverished, particularly in comparison to the wealth of Istanbul to the west.

The numbers of dead reported by Turkish officials are far lower than originally feared. Video footage of the quake is, nonetheless, a chilling reminder of the power of nature. Here are some professional and amateur examples of videos which have spread across YouTube.

The most popular video is a 24 second clip showing an office interior with the furniture inside being thrown around as the person filming wanders through the carnage.

News service Al Jazeera incorporated the amateur footage into its coverage of the quake. The report also shows the panic in the immediate aftermath of the quake and the rescue efforts of ordinary citizens as they look for survivors in the rubble.

One YouTube user collated the data of around the quake into a single video. Of particular interest is the number of seismic events which make up the earthquake.

Another video strings together a series of images from the panic of the quake’s aftermath to ordinary citizens helping soldiers search for survivors. The lack of commentary on the video only serves to make it more chilling.