Status: 06.02.2023 12:21 p.m
After violent earthquakes in the Turkish-Syrian border area in the morning, another earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 is now being reported from the south-east of Turkey. Officially, the authorities in both countries speak of more than 1,400 victims. International aid is on the way.
After several severe earthquakes in the eastern Mediterranean region, a new earthquake struck south-east Turkey at noon. It had a magnitude of 7.5, according to the US earthquake agency.
The epicenter was in the province of Kahramanmaras, reported the earthquake station Kandilli in Istanbul. The earth also trembled in Syria and Lebanon.
The number of dead in the Turkish-Syrian border region has risen to more than 1,400 after the first tremors in the morning. In Turkey alone, 912 people lost their lives. More than 5,300 people were injured, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In addition, emergency services have so far rescued more than 2,400 people from the rubble.
In Syria, the death toll rose to 547 dead. Around 1,600 people were injured, reported Deputy Health Minister Ahmed Dhamirijeh on Syrian state television, as well as the White Helmets rescue organization, which works in rebel-controlled areas of the country.
Numerous buildings collapsed
Scores of buildings collapsed in an area from the Syrian cities of Aleppo and Hama to Turkey’s Diyarbakir, more than 330 kilometers northeast. Rescue workers and local residents are desperately searching for survivors under the rubble. A hospital collapsed in Turkey, and patients, including newborns, were evacuated from medical facilities in Syria.
On the Syrian side of the border, the tremor shook opposition-controlled regions, home to around four million people displaced from other parts of the country because of the civil war. According to the rescue workers, the already overburdened health facilities and hospitals were quickly overcrowded. Others had to be evacuated, including a maternity hospital, according to the medical organization SAMS.
International help on the way
International aid is starting. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Twitter that NATO members are in the process of mobilizing support.
The first rescue teams from the Netherlands and Romania have already been sent by the European Union, said the responsible EU Commissioner Janez Lenarcic on Twitter. The federal government also wants to send help. Chancellor Olaf Scholz did not provide details on the scope of the support.
Despite the severe tensions with Turkey, Greece also agreed to send rescue teams to the earthquake area. Israel also announced that it would provide humanitarian aid to Turkey. Israeli Defense Minister Joav Galant instructed the army and defense ministry to make appropriate preparations.
According to Russia, it wants to send rescue teams to Turkey and Syria. Civil Protection Minister Aleksandr Kurenkov said 100 search and rescue teams were ready for the earthquake areas.