Strongest quake in two decades hits Algeria, 1100 killed, thousands homeless
Algeria, Local, 5/23/2003

Algeria yesterday announced a three- day mourning as from today for the victims of the destructive earthquake which hit the capital Algiers and surrounding towns on Wednesday and resulted, according to preliminary estimates the death of 110 persons, 7,000 wounded. It was at 7.7 grade at Richter scale and was the most violent since two decades as residential buildings collapsed easily.

Meantime, the Algerian President Abdul Aziz Butaflika announced a "special program to help the victims who become homeless." The Algerian radio quoted the Algerian minister of the Interior Nour Eddine Zarhouni as saying that the number of the quake's victims reached by yesterday evening 1092 and 6782 wounded. He added that these figures are still preliminary. For his part, the prime minister Ahmad Oyahya said " it was a tragic moment. It is a crisis that hit Algeria as a whole," noting that other victims are still under the ruins.

The earthquake took place evening time when families gathered for dinner. The American geological center for quake information said the center of the quake was 70 Km to the east of the capital near Thaneya city. It added that this earthquake is the strongest since 1980 when the country was exposed to a quake of 7.7 grade on the Richter scale that killed at least 4500 persons to the west of the country.

Members of the rescue teams continued yesterday searching among large amounts of ruins to find survivors. Some 200 aftershocks hit northern Algeria, two hours after the quake. One witness said "every thing was collapsing around me and every body was frightened," the citizens hurried to the streets in great fear and some of them jumped from windows, while complete families died under tons of ruins.

In the capital Algiers, at least, 57 buildings collapsed including one center for training athletes.

Medical sources indicated that hospitals in the capital and the cities which were greatly damaged by the quake find it greatly difficult to treat cases admitted to it.

In Boumerdas area bodies of the killed persons were put outside the hospitals and the patients were given medication outside. The Algerian TV showed shots for scores of covered bodies, many of them of children.

Among the most damaged area is the relatively rich Rweiba region, 30 Km of the eastern district of the capital, where the buildings collapsed one by one.

Butaflika urged the Algerians to donate their blood at the hospitals which are crowded with wounded.

An official source said that Butaflika announced yesterday national mourning for three days as from Friday over the victims of the Quake.

The area which was hit by the quake includes most of the 23 million Algerians, including 2.6 million in the capital Algiers. The quake was so strong that it retarded to remote areas.

The French "France Telecom" establishment announced that the quake resulted in cutting several sea cables and this resulted in cutting telephone lines with Algeria and obstruction of telecommunications between Europe and several countries in Asia, the Middle East and the Indian Ocean.

Arab and foreign states hurried to sending rescue teams to Algeria.

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