Over the past two days there have been five major earthquakes in the Eastern Turkey region.  The first was a 7.2 earthquake on Sunday, October 23 at 1:41 PM at the epicenter, followed by four quakes (often called aftershocks) ranging from 6.1 to 6.0.  Each of these quakes, (and many more aftershocks registering less than 5.0) was located in the Eastern Turkey region of Van, which is about 577 miles east of Ankara, the capital of Turkey.  As you can see on the Google map, Van, (A on the map) which is a town next to Lake Van is located in the Eastern part of Turkey.

Google Map showing the epicenter (A) of the earthquakes in relationship to the region.

A good article to read to find out why Turkey has so much in the way of seismic activity is this one in the Christian Science Monitor.  Here is one quote from the article:

“Everything that is happening to Turkey is the result of the Arabian Peninsula smashing its way into Turkey, Iran, and Iraq,” explains Russ Stein, a geophysicist with the US Geological Survey inMenlo Park, Calif., who has worked in the region.

Hundreds of building have collapsed, and hundreds of people have died as rescuers continue a search and rescue mission.