Death toll in Turkey and Syria after earthquake reaches 3,700

The strong earthquake that hit part of the territory of Turkey and northwest Syria killed more than 3,700 people, and the freezing winter made the situation of thousands of injured or homeless even more complicated, in addition to affecting efforts to find survivors. The 7.8 magnitude quake, which struck before sunrise, was the worst to hit Turkey this century. The earthquake was followed, in the early afternoon, by another large aftershock of magnitude 7.7. The quakes flattened entire residential buildings in Turkish cities and wreaked havoc for millions of Syrians displaced by the country’s 11-year civil war. In Diyarbakir, in southeastern Turkey, a woman speaking beside the wreckage of the seven-story building where she lived said: “We were rocked like a cradle. There were nine of us at home. Two of my children are still in the rubble, I am waiting for them. ” She had a broken arm and had bruises on her face. “It was like the apocalypse,” said Abdul Salam al-Mahmoud, a Syrian from the northern city of Atareb. “It’s very cold and raining heavily and people need to be saved.” Rescuers search for survivors in rubble after an earthquake in the Syrian town of Jandaris – 02/06/2023 REUTERS All rights reserved The death toll is the highest for an earthquake in Turkey since 1999, when a tremor of similar magnitude devastated the densely populated area. populated region of the Sea of ​​Marmara near Istanbul, killing more than 17,000 people. In Turkey, the death toll was 2,316, according to the Emergency and Disaster Management Authority of Turkey. At least 1,444 people have died in Syria, according to data from the government in Damascus and rescue workers in the insurgent-controlled northwest region. More than 13,000 people were injured in Turkey and another 3,500 in Syria as a result of the quake. Poor internet connections and damaged roads between some of the worst-hit cities in southern Turkey, home to millions of people, hampered efforts to assess and deal with the impact. Temperatures in some areas are expected to drop to near freezing overnight, worsening conditions for people trapped under rubble or left homeless. Monday (6) was rainy, after snowstorms hit the country over the weekend. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan called today’s quake a historic disaster and the worst earthquake to hit the country since 1939, but said authorities were doing all they could. “Everyone is trying hard, body and soul, although the winter, the cold weather and the earthquake that happened overnight make things more difficult,” he said. The second tremor was strong enough to topple more buildings and, like the first, was felt across the region, endangering rescue teams. In Diyarbakir, Turkey, Reuters journalists saw dozens of workers sifting through a pile of rubble, all that was left of a large building, pulling out pieces of debris as they searched for survivors. Occasionally they would raise their hands and call for silence, listening for the sounds of life. Rescue workers in front of rubble left by an earthquake in the Turkish city of Diyarbakir – Reuters/Sertac Kayar/Syria copyright Footage posted on Twitter showed two neighboring buildings collapsing one after the other in Aleppo, Syria, filling the street with dust. Two residents of the town, which has been heavily damaged by war, said buildings collapsed hours after the earthquake, which was also felt in Cyprus and Lebanon. “It was like the apocalypse,” said Abdul Salam al Mahmoud, a Syrian contacted by Reuters from the town of Atareb. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad held an emergency meeting to review the damage and discuss next steps, his office said. People in Damascus and the Lebanese cities of Beirut and Tripoli rushed into the street and grabbed their cars to flee buildings in fear of collapses, witnesses said. Erdogan said 45 countries had offered to help with search and rescue efforts. The US Geological Survey reported that the earthquake overnight occurred at a depth of 17.9 kilometers (km). It reported a series of earthquakes, one of them of magnitude 6.7 degrees. The region crosses seismic faults. “The combination of large magnitude and shallow depth made this earthquake extremely destructive,” said Mohammad Kashani, associate professor of structural and seismic engineering at the University of Southampton. *Reproduction of this content is prohibited

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