[ad_1]
More than 100 dead in Turkey and Syria
It’s just past 8am in Gaziantep, Turkey, as we receive more information on the total number of deaths cause by a powerful earthquake this morning.
Turkey’s disaster management agency AFAD said on Monday that 76 people had been killed and 440 injured in the massive earthquake that reverberated through several provinces in the south of the country.
“76 of our citizens lost their lives in Adana, Adiyaman, Malatya, Kahramanmaras, Gaziantep, and 440 citizens were injured in Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, Adana, Adiyaman, Malatya, Osmaniye, Hatay and Kilis,” AFAD said.
At least 50 people have died in neighbouring Syria.
Forty-two people were killed in government-controlled parts of the country, state media said, while a local hospital told AFP that eight others were killed in northern areas controlled by pro-Turkish factions.
“Forty-two deaths and 200 injuries have been reported in Aleppo, Hama and Latakia as a result of the earthquake in a preliminary toll,” state news agency Sana said quoting a health ministry official.
Rescuers are continuing the search the rubble of collapsed buildings as the death toll is expected to rise.
Key events
‘Two of my friends are under the rubble now, we are trying to reach them’, Pazarcık resident says
In Turkey’s Pazarcık, residents said they feared for those trapped under fallen buildings.
Nihat Altundağ said the powerful shocks from the earthquake woke his family:
Our house looks solid from the outside but there are cracks inside. There are destroyed buildings around me, there are houses on fire. There are buildings that are cracking. A building collapsed just 200 meters away from where I am now. Thank God, our friends are safe, but we heard there are people who can’t get out of their homes and there are people we can’t reach.
We are waiting for the sun to rise so that we can see the scale of the earthquake. People are all outside, all in fear.
“Pazarcik is in ruins,” said resident Hüseyin Satı.
The building where I live is not so tall, and was built in compliance with earthquake regulations, so it didn’t collapse. But still there are cracks on the walls. A neighbour of mine broke his back while jumping from the balcony during the earthquake and is now in hospital.
Satı said that civilians were frantically trying to help dig their neighbours out from under collapsed buildings. He said:
Two of my friends are under the rubble now, we are trying to reach them.
Meanwhile in Turkey’s Gaziantep, resident Erdam told Reuters he has never felt an earthquake of such magnitude.
We were shaken at least three times very strongly, like a baby in a crib.
Everybody is sitting in their cars or trying to drive to open spaces away from buildings.
I imagine not a single person in Gaziantep is in their homes now.
At least 111 killed in Syria: health ministry
At least 111 people were killed across Aleppo, Hama and Lattakia and 516 were injured, according to the Syrian health ministry.
The situation is very tragic, tens of buildings have collapsed in the city of Salqin,” a member of the White Helmets rescue organisation said in a video clip on Twitter, referring to a town about 5 km (3 miles) from the Turkish border.
The rescuer on the clip, which showed a rubble-strewn street, said homes were “totally destroyed”.
Many buildings in the region had already suffered damage in fighting during Syria’s nearly 12-year-long civil war.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has reportedly met with the governors of Adana, Malatya, Gaziantep, Diyarbakır, Hatay, Adıyaman, Osmaniye and Şanlıurfa to discuss the situation after the earthquake, according to state media reports.
Erdoğan, who will be under pressure to oversee an effective response to the disaster heading to a tightly-contested 14 May election, conveyed his sympathies and urged national unity.
“We hope that we will get through this disaster together as soon as possible and with the least damage,” the Turkish leader tweeted.
Residents flee homes in terror
On the streets in towns and cities across southeast Turkey and Syria, people have fled their homes to take shelter in cars, fearing aftershocks and more collapsed buildings.
Rescue workers and residents are still frantically searching for survivors under the rubble of crushed buildings in multiple cities on both sides of the border.
In one quake-struck Turkish city, dozens pulled away chunks of concrete and twisted metal. People on the street shouted up to others inside a partially toppled apartment building, leaning dangerously.
Residents in the town of Pazarcık said they feared for those trapped under fallen buildings. Nihat Altundağ said the powerful shocks from the earthquake woke his family.
Our house looks solid from the outside but there are cracks inside. There are destroyed buildings around me, there are houses on fire. There are buildings that are cracking. A building collapsed just 200 meters away from where I am now. Thank god, our friends are safe, but we heard there are people who can’t get out of their homes and there are people we can’t reach…
We are waiting for the sun to rise so that we can see the scale of the earthquake. People are all outside, all in fear.”
State media showed frantic people across southern Turkey crowding into streets, amid warning from domestic emergency services that people could still be trapped underneath collapsed buildings.
We are getting more images showing attempts to rescue people from under collapsed buildings:
US President Joe Biden has directed USAID and other federal government partners to assess response options to the most affected areas in the Turkey and Syria earthquake, national security advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement on Sunday.
Sullivan also tweeted:
The US is profoundly concerned by today’s destructive earthquake in Turkey and Syria. I have been in touch with Turkish officials to relay that we stand ready to provide any and all needed assistance. We will continue to closely monitor the situation in coordination with Turkey.”
Authorities in Italy have warned of a potential tsunami risk on the country’s coast.
Officials called on citizens in coastal areas to move to higher areas and wait for more information from local authorities.
The European-Mediterranean seismological centre’s monitoring service told Reuters it was assessing the risk of a tsunami.
A statement released this morning read:
Based on the data processed by the Ingv Tsunami Alert Center (CAT), the Civil Protection Department has issued an alert for possible tsunami waves arriving on the Italian coast following the earthquake of magnitude 7.9 with its epicenter between Turkey and Syria at 02.17.
It is recommended to move away from the coastal areas, to reach the higher nearby area and to follow the indications of the local authorities.”
More than 100 dead in Turkey and Syria
It’s just past 8am in Gaziantep, Turkey, as we receive more information on the total number of deaths cause by a powerful earthquake this morning.
Turkey’s disaster management agency AFAD said on Monday that 76 people had been killed and 440 injured in the massive earthquake that reverberated through several provinces in the south of the country.
“76 of our citizens lost their lives in Adana, Adiyaman, Malatya, Kahramanmaras, Gaziantep, and 440 citizens were injured in Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, Adana, Adiyaman, Malatya, Osmaniye, Hatay and Kilis,” AFAD said.
At least 50 people have died in neighbouring Syria.
Forty-two people were killed in government-controlled parts of the country, state media said, while a local hospital told AFP that eight others were killed in northern areas controlled by pro-Turkish factions.
“Forty-two deaths and 200 injuries have been reported in Aleppo, Hama and Latakia as a result of the earthquake in a preliminary toll,” state news agency Sana said quoting a health ministry official.
Rescuers are continuing the search the rubble of collapsed buildings as the death toll is expected to rise.
A total of 42 aftershocks have been felt in the two hours since the quake first struck at 4.17 am local time, according to Turkey’s ministry of interior disaster and emergency management.
The ministry issued a statement, saying:
As of 6:30am, a total of 42 aftershocks, the largest of which was 6.6, were experienced.”
76 killed and 440 injured: Turkey’s disaster agency
As the death toll continues to climb, the latest figures released by Turkey’s disaster agency (AFAD) say 76 people have so far been killed while another 440 have been injured.
76 of our citizens lost their lives in Adana, Adiyaman, Malatya, Kahramanmaras, Gaziantep, and 440 citizens were injured in Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, Adana, Adiyaman, Malatya, Osmaniye, Hatay and Kilis,” AFAD said.
[ad_2]
Source link