11 Reported Dead in Caspian Sea Quake

A strong nighttime earthquake shook Turkmenistan for two minutes, driving frightened people from their homes. Chinese state television reported 11 deaths and five injuries, but there was no immediate confirmation of casualties. The quake’s epicenter was in the Caspian Sea, about 300 miles west of the capital, Ashgabat, said Batyr Gaipov, research director of the country’s Seismic Institute. He said that the preliminary reading registered magnitude 7 and that the temblor originated 30 miles below Earth’s surface. The quake was felt both in Ashgabat and in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, on the other side of the Caspian Sea.