Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria: Images from the disaster area

Earthquakes in southeastern Turkey and northern Syria killed more than 600 people on Monday. At least 284 dead and more than 2,300 injured were counted in Turkish territory alone, as Vice President Fuat Oktay announced on Monday. At least 1,700 buildings collapsed in Turkey as a result of the devastating earthquake.

For Syria, Deputy Health Minister Ahmed Dhamirijeh said 230 had died and more than 600 had been injured in several provinces on state television. The aid organization SAMS, which works in rebel-controlled areas in Syria, reported more than 100 more fatalities.

A 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck southeastern Turkey early Monday morning. According to the civil protection agency Afad, the epicenter was in the province of Kahramanmaras near the Syrian border. Another earthquake measuring 6.6 was measured shortly afterwards in the province of Gaziantep.

Earthquake in Turkey and Syria: Building collapsed, “catastrophic situation”

According to the state news agency Sana, buildings in numerous cities in Syria collapsed. Rescue teams tried to pull people out of the rubble during the night and at dawn. According to Sana, the head of the National Earthquake Center, Raed Ahmed, said it was the strongest earthquake in Syria since 1995. President Bashar al-Assad called his cabinet for an emergency meeting. Videos showed mountains of rubble from the province of Idlib, among other things, with entire rows of houses sometimes collapsing.

“We are responding with everything we can to save those who are under the rubble,” said the head of the White Helmets rescue organization, Raed Al Saleh. “The hospitals are overloaded with seriously injured people,” said a spokesman for the organization. Rain and cold made operations even more difficult. “We urgently need the help of the international community,” said Basel Termanini, chairman of the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS), the dpa. The situation was “catastrophic”.

According to the interior minister, several provinces in Turkey were also affected. buildings had collapsed. Rescue teams from across the country would be pulled together. In addition, alarm level four was declared and international help was requested. There were a total of 22 aftershocks, some strong. The Foreign Office urged caution and advised to follow the instructions of the local authorities.

International helpfulness

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote on Twitter, “We hope that together we will survive this catastrophe in the shortest possible time and with as little damage as possible”.

Despite severe tensions with Turkey, Greece agreed to send rescue teams to the neighboring country’s earthquake zone. “Greece will help immediately,” said Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Israel also wants to provide Turkey with humanitarian aid. Israeli Defense Minister Joav Galant instructed the army and defense ministry on Monday to make appropriate preparations.

Turkey is repeatedly affected by severe earthquakes. Two of the largest continental plates meet there: the African and the Eurasian. In fact, most of the Turkish population lives in constant danger of earthquakes.

In October 2020, more than 100 people died in Izmir in one of the most serious earthquakes in recent years. In 1999, Turkey was hit by one of the worst natural disasters in its history: a magnitude 7.4 earthquake in the region around the north-western industrial city of Izmit claimed the lives of more than 17,000 people. Experts are also expecting a strong earthquake in Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul, in the near future.

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DPA
AFP

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