Monday’s earthquake is Turkey’s worst disaster in decades, the country’s president has said.
Turkey and Syria were hit by three powerful earthquakes on Monday, causing massive damage to infrastructure and killing more than 3,800 people. The 7.8 magnitude quakewas followed by dozens of aftershocks, which wiped out entire sections of major Turkish cities in the region filled with millions who fled Syria’s civil war and other conflicts.
In Turkey’s Hatay province, the only runway at the airport has also been shattered and left fully unusable. A video of the completely destroyed runway has been shared on social media. It showed the tarmac split into two, forcing it to be closed for all flights.
Monday’s earthquake is Turkey’s worst disaster in decades, the country’s president has said. According to seismologists, the first quake was one of the largest ever recorded in the country. 12 hours later, a second quake was triggered with a magnitude of 7.5, with its epicentre in the Elbistan district of Kahramanmaras province, as per the BBC.
An official from Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority said it was “not an aftershock” and was “independent” from the earlier quake.
Thousands of buildings have collapsed, and several videos show the moment they fell, as onlookers ran for cover. Among the buildings destroyed was Gaziantep Castle, a historical landmark that had stood for more than 2,000 years. Turkey’s energy infrastructure has also been damaged, and videos have emerged showing large fires in southern Turkey.
Officials have counted more than 50 aftershocks within the first 10 hours of the initial disaster. They have warned that more would rumble on for many more days.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for an international response to the crisis. According to the BBC, the European Union is sending search and rescue teams to Turkey, while rescuers from the Netherlands and Romania are already on their way. The UK has said it will send 76 specialists, equipment and rescue dogs. France, Germany, Israel, and the US have also pledged to help. Russia and Iran have offered to help both Turkey and Syria.
#Hatay airport runway is out of service due to the strong earthquake. pic.twitter.com/7RvDjBWe3l
— Barzan Sadiq (@BarzanSadiq) February 6, 2023
USGS reported another shallow 6.7-magnitude quake occurring near the site of the first about 15 minutes after.
Istanbul: A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Turkey and Syria on Monday, killing dozens, levelling buildings while people were still in their sleep, and sending tremors that were felt as far away as the island of Cyprus.
Local officials in Turkey put the initial death count at 53, although it threatened to climb substantially higher because it caught most people while they were still at home asleep.
At least 42 people also died in government-controlled parts of northern Syria, state media said.
Television images showed shocked people in Turkey standing in the snow in their pyjamas, watching rescuers dig through the debris of damaged homes.
Horrific news of tonight’s earthquake in #Turkey & northern #Syria — the damage looks extensive.
The epicenter region is home to millions of refugees and IDPs, many of whom live in tents & makeshift structures. This is the absolute nightmare scenario for them. And it’s winter. pic.twitter.com/oACzWYtWb2
— Charles Lister (@Charles_Lister) February 6, 2023
The quake struck at 04:17 am local time (0117 GMT) at a depth of about 17.9 kilometres (11 miles), the US agency said, with a 6.7-magnitude aftershock striking 15 minutes later.
Turkey’s AFAD emergencies service centre put the first quake’s magnitude at 7.4.
The earthquake was one of the most powerful to hit the region in at least a century.
“I convey my best wishes to all our citizens who were affected by the earthquake,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tweeted.
Massive #earthquake registered M7.8 hit the middle of Turkey. pic.twitter.com/mdxt53QlQ0
— Asaad Sam Hanna (@AsaadHannaa) February 6, 2023
“We hope that we will get through this disaster together as soon as possible and with the least damage.”
The earthquake levelled dozens of buildings across major cities of southern Turkey as well as neighbouring Syria, a country gripped by more than a decade of violence that has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions of people.
Images on Turkish television and social media showed rescuers digging through the rubble of levelled buildings in the city of Kahramanmaras and neighbouring Gaziantep.
A fire lit up the night sky in one image from Kahramanmaras, although its origin remained unclear.
NTV television said buildings also crumbled in the cities of Adiyaman, Malatya and Diyarbakir.
CNN Turk television said the quake was also felt across parts of central Turkey and the capital Ankara.
‘Biggest earthquake’
Syrian state television reported that a building near Latakia, on the west coast of Syria, had collapsed.
Pro-government media said several buildings had partially collapsed in Hama, central Syria, with civil defence and firefighters working to pull survivors out of the rubble.
Raed Ahmed, who heads Syria’s National Earthquake Centre, told pro-government radio that this was “historically, the biggest earthquake recorded in the history of the centre”.
Naci Gorur, an earthquake expert with Turkey’s Academy of Sciences, urged local officials to immediately check the region’s dams for cracks to avert potentially catastrophic floodings.
Turkey is in one of the world’s most active earthquake zones
The Turkish region of Duzce suffered a 7.4-magnitude earthquake in 1999 — the worst to hit Turkey in decades.
That quake killed more than 17,000 people, including about 1,000 in Istanbul.
Experts have long warned a large quake could devastate Istanbul, which has allowed widespread building without safety precautions.
A magnitude-6.8 quake hit Elazig in January 2020, killing more than 40 people.
And in October that year, a magnitude-7.0 quake hit Turkey’s Aegean coast, killing 114 people and wounding more than 1,000.
