More than 50 people were murdered by a powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.9 on Monday in southern Turkey, which was also felt in Cyprus, Lebanon, and Syria. Dozens of buildings were destroyed, and survivors had to be found under the rubble in the wintry streets.
While announcing a “level 4 warning” that requests international aid, Turkish officials dispatched rescue teams and supply aircraft to the area near the city of Karamanmaras.
Early official reports put the death toll in Turkey’s Malatya region at least at 23, Sanliurfa at 17, Diyarbakir at 6, and Osmaniye at 5. State media in Syria, south of the border, reported 42 fatalities.
In my 40 years of life, I have never experienced anything like that, said Erdem, a citizen of the Turkish city of Gaziantep, which is close to the epicentre of the earthquake. Erdem declined to disclose his last name.
At least three times, we experienced “extremely powerful shaking, like a baby in a crib.”
He continued that it was still too dark to see the extent of the damage.
He stated over the phone that “everyone is sitting in their automobiles, or trying to drive to open spaces away from buildings.” “I imagine that nobody in Gaziantep is at home right now.”
A witness for Reuters reported that the tremor, which occurred 350 kilometres (218 miles) to the east in Diyarbakir, broke windows and caused at least 17 structures to collapse.
According to local officials, 16 buildings in Sanliurfa and 34 in Osmaniye fell.
In Kahramanmaras, where it was still dark, television stations TRT and Haberturk aired footage of people searching through building rubble, transferring stretchers, and looking for survivors.
“Earthquake of Magnitude 7.4 Hits Turkey and Syria, Causes Widespread Destruction and Panic”
Suleyman Soylu, the interior minister, told reporters that performing search and rescue operations was his department’s main responsibility.
The EMSC monitoring service said it was evaluating the risk of a tsunami, however the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) reported that the earthquake occurred at a depth of 10 km (6 miles).
The US Geological Survey (USGS) recorded the original tremor as having a magnitude of 7.8 and later observed several further earthquakes. A 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck Gaziantep, and a 5.6-magnitude one struck the city’s Nurdag neighbourhood.
Near Kahramanmaras and the bigger city of Gaziantep, close to the Syrian border, the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) of Turkey estimated the magnitude of the earthquake to be 7.4.
In contrast to what a source in the Hama civil service claimed, the Syrian official media reported that many structures collapsed in the province of Aleppo.
Samer, a citizen of the nation’s capital, Damascus, claimed that paintings had fallen from the walls of the home. “I awoke scared. We are all dressed and waiting at the entrance right now.
Witnesses reported that residents of Damascus and the Lebanese cities of Beirut and Tripoli fled their buildings in case they fell and got into their automobiles.
“Overnight Tremors Felt in Ankara, 460 km to the Northwest of the Epicenter, No Damage Recorded by Cyprus Police”
Strong earthquakes frequently hit the region.
“We were afraid of the area when the earthquake happened. Kerem Kinik, the head of the Turkish Red Crescent relief organisation, told Haberturk that there was serious, widespread devastation and made a request for blood donations.