A robust 7.8 earthquake hits Turkey and Syria, killing dozens
A robust 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Turkey and Syria on Monday, killing dozens, destroying buildings whereas folks have been nonetheless asleep, and inflicting tremors as far-off because the island of Cyprus.
Native officers in Turkey put the preliminary demise toll at 53, although it threatened to rise dramatically as a result of he caught most people whereas they have been nonetheless asleep at house.
State media mentioned not less than 42 folks have been killed in government-held elements of northern Syria.
Tv footage confirmed shocked folks standing within the snow of their pajamas, watching rescuers digging via the rubble of broken houses.
The US company mentioned the quake occurred at 4:17 a.m. native time (0117 GMT) at a depth of about 17.9 kilometers (11 miles), with a magnitude 6.7 earthquake occurring quarter-hour later.
Turkey’s Catastrophe and Emergency Administration Emergency Service Heart estimated the primary quake to be 7.4.
“I convey my finest needs to all our compatriots who have been affected by the earthquake,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote on Twitter.
We hope that we’ll overcome this catastrophe collectively as quickly as doable and with the least quantity of injury.”
The earthquake destroyed dozens of buildings in main cities in southern Turkey in addition to neighboring Syria, a rustic reeling from greater than a decade of violence that has killed a whole bunch of 1000’s and displaced tens of millions of individuals.
Photographs broadcast on Turkish tv and social media confirmed rescuers digging via the rubble of destroyed buildings within the metropolis of Kahramanmaraş and neighboring Gaziantep.
A hearth lit up within the night time sky in a single photograph from Kahramanmaras, although its supply remained unclear.
NTV mentioned buildings additionally collapsed within the cities of Adiyaman, Malatya and Diyarbakir.
CNN Turk mentioned the quake was felt throughout central Turkey and the capital, Ankara.
Agence France-Presse correspondents mentioned the quake was felt in Lebanon, Syria and Cyprus.
Syrian state tv reported the collapse of a constructing close to Latakia on Syria’s western coast.
Professional-government media mentioned a number of buildings had partially collapsed in Hama, central Syria, as civil protection and firefighters labored to drag survivors from the rubble.
Raed Ahmed, head of the Nationwide Seismological Heart in Syria, advised the pro-government radio that this was “traditionally the most important earthquake ever recorded within the historical past of the middle”.
The Turks are in one of the crucial seismically energetic areas on the planet.
Turkey’s Duzce area was hit by a 7.4-magnitude earthquake in 1999 – the worst earthquake to hit Turkey in many years.
The earthquake killed greater than 17 thousand folks, together with a few thousand in Istanbul.
Consultants have lengthy warned {that a} main earthquake may destroy Istanbul, permitting large-scale building with out security precautions.
A 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck Elazig in January 2020, killing greater than 40 folks.
And in October of that 12 months, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck the Aegean Sea, killing 114 folks and injuring greater than 1,000.
(AFP)
