6th February, 2023
More than 1,400 people have been confirmed dead on Monday as massive earthquake ripped through Central Turkey and Northwest Syria.
Thousands of others were said to be injured.
More than 900 people are believed to have died in Turkey, about 550 others dead in Syria, Reuters quoted officials as saying.
The US Geological Survey said the 7.8 magnitude tremor struck at 04:17 local time (01:17 GMT) at a depth of 17.9km (11 miles) near the city of Gaziantep.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the death toll there was now 912.
“Our state has taken action with all its institutions since the earthquake. Our governorships immediately mobilized all the means in their provinces. 10 more governors to work with our current governors were assigned to 10 provinces affected by the earthquake.
Institutions with direct disaster duties, such as AFAD and Red Crescent, sent their teams to the region. Our institutions, especially our Turkish Armed Forces and municipalities, which have the infrastructure and training in disaster studies, have been called to duty,” Erdogan said.
He said currently, 9,000 personnel were carrying out search and rescue work, and that this number was constantly increasing with those who reached the earthquake area from outside.
“Detection and rescue activities of our citizens remaining in the collapsed buildings continue uninterruptedly. Starting from nearby places, search and rescue teams and equipment, aid materials have been sent to the earthquake area from all over our country and are being dispatched.
“Our citizens also help the teams that are directed according to the planning made by AFAD. In such periods, it is of great importance that transportation and communication are carried out in a healthy way. For this, especially the roads leading to the wreckage areas should be kept open and communication tools should be used only when necessary.
“Contacts with our country have also started to be established for international aid. In addition to NATO and the European Union, we received aid offers from 45 countries. I hope we will leave these disastrous days behind in unity and solidarity as a country and nation. The day is the day to be one heart, one wrist…,” he added.
In Syria, the health ministry said more than 326 people had been killed and 1,042 injured. In the Syrian rebel-held northwest, rescuers said 221 people had died.
In Diyarbakir, Reuters journalists saw dozens of rescue workers searching through a mound of debris, all that was left of a big building, hauling off bits of wreckage as they looked for survivors. Occasionally they raised their hands and called for quiet, listening for sounds of life.
Men carried a girl wrapped in blankets from a collapsed building in the city.
“We woke up to a big noise and severe shaking. There were two aftershocks right after that,” said Meryem, 29, from the southeastern Turkish city of Kahramanmaras, near the epicentre.
“I was so scared, thought it will never stop. I took some things for my one-year old son and left the building.”