Atlanta's Istanbul Center and Turkish American Chamber of Commerce of the Southeast U.S. are collecting funds to provide relief to the victims of a 7.2-magnitude earthquake that hit the eastern part of that country Oct. 23 at 10:40AM.

The Eastern cities of Van and Ercis were hit the hardest and most directly by the powerful quake, causing thousands of buildings to come crashing down, injuring more than 1,500 people, killing hundreds and trapping hundreds more. Multiple aftershocks, most topping 5.0 and one even reaching 6.0 on the Richter scale, led to further infrastructural damage and loss of life in the wake of the initial earthquake. According to BBC, death toll surpassed 430 people by October 25th.

The Istanbul Center has organized a relief fund, the Istanbul Center Turkey Earthquake Relief Fund so that interested parties and friends of Turkey and The Center may be able to donate to both the relief and re-construction efforts taking place in the areas hit most hard by the earthquake.

Contributions (payable to Istanbul Center Turkey Earthquake Relief Fund) can be mailed to the Istanbul Center's office at:
Two Midtown Plaza,
1349 West Peachtree St.,
Suite 1010,
Atlanta, Georgia 30309.

Donations can also be sent online via PayPal from the Istanbul Center's website.

Should you want to wire your donation directly to Istanbul Center's Turkey Earthquake Relief Fund account, the Wells Fargo account number is as follows: 6020584402.

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