On Monday, a massive earthquake that struck a large portion of Turkey and northwest Syria claimed more than 3,700 lives. The search for survivors was hampered by the cold winter weather and the condition of the many thousands of people who were left injured or homeless.
The magnitude 7.8 earthquake destroyed entire apartment buildings in Turkish cities and added to the damage caused by millions of Syrians being displaced due to years of war.
The greatest earthquake to hit Turkey this century struck in severe weather just before sunrise, and it was swiftly followed by a 7.7-magnitude earthquake in the early afternoon.
Abdul Salam al-Mahmoud, a Syrian living in the northern town of Atareb, remarked, “It felt like the end of the world.” “People require saving because it’s brutally cold and raining heavily.”
The second earthquake, which was powerful enough to knock down additional buildings and was felt throughout the area like the first, put rescue workers who were attempting to extricate victims from the rubble in peril.
Speaking close to the rubble of her seven-story apartment building in Diyarbakir, southeast Turkey, a woman said: “We were shook like a cradle. At home, there were nine of us. My two sons are still trapped in the debris, and I’m waiting for them.
She suffered injuries on her face and was recovering from a broken arm.
An earthquake occurred in the remote South Atlantic in August 2021. It was recorded by the US Geological Survey as the largest earthquake ever globally. The earthquake was powerful and its impact was felt over a wide area.
“Deadly Earthquake in Turkey: 2,316 fatalities and challenges in relief efforts”
The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) reported that 2,316 people had died in Turkey, making it the nation’s deadliest earthquake since a tremor of a comparable magnitude struck the densely populated eastern Marmara Sea region close to Istanbul in 1999, which resulted in more than 17,000 fatalities.
Assessing and mitigating the impact of the disaster was hindered by poor internet connections. Damaged roads also made it difficult to reach some of the cities in southern Turkey that were most affected by the disaster. These cities are home to millions of people.
Conditions for those buried in debris or left homeless were anticipated to get worse as some locations experienced nighttime temperature drops to close to freezing. In addition, Monday saw the arrival of rain following the weekend’s widespread snowfall.
The number of fatalities from an earthquake in Turkey since 1999 is already at an all-time high. A magnitude-comparable tremor killed over 17,000 in Istanbul’s densely populated Marmara Sea region. The earthquake caused destruction in the area.
The earthquake in Turkey caused injuries to more than 13,000 people.
The greatest earthquake to hit Turkey since 1939. According to President Tayyip Erdogan, who is gearing up for a challenging election in May. However, he said that officials were doing everything they could to contain the tragedy.
Efforts are being given “heart and soul” despite cold winter weather and a nighttime earthquake, says the speaker.
Following the second earthquake, a building collapse was shown on the Turkish official television TRT in the province of Adana in the south. It was unclear right away if it had been evacuated.
“At least 1,444 dead, 3,500 injured in Syria following Monday’s events.”
An earthquake in Syria will worsen the humanitarian crisis, says the Norwegian Refugee Council. Millions of Syrians are already suffering due to the civil war.
A large pile of debris that was all that was left of a large structure was being searched through by hundreds of rescue personnel in the Turkish city of Diyarbakir. They were carrying out pieces of the wreckage as they searched for survivors. They occasionally raised their hands and commanded silence as they searched for signs of life.
From a city structure that had collapsed, men took a girl who was covered in blankets. Drone footage from Izmir shows rescuers attempting to raise stone slabs while perched atop a heap of debris where a structure had once stood.
A tweeted video captured the collapse of two nearby buildings in Aleppo, Syria. The buildings fell one after the other, sending clouds of dust into the air. The video shows the destruction caused by the earthquake.
An earthquake was felt in Cyprus and Lebanon, causing buildings to collapse in a city that had already experienced significant war damage. This was confirmed by two residents.
“No one emerged.”
A multi-story structure used to stand in the town of Jandaris in Aleppo, which is now controlled by Syrian rebels. Now, a mound of concrete, steel rods, and bundles of clothing can be seen in its place.
“Under there were 12 families. None of them emerged. Not one,” a skinny young man with bandaged hand and wide-open shocked eyes replied.
Raed al-Saleh, of the Syrian White Helmets, claimed that they are in a race against time to save lives. The White Helmets are a rescue organization operating in the rebel-held zone. They are famous for removing people from the wreckage of buildings devastated by air strikes. The situation is dire and every second counts.
A dead child was removed from a building’s ruins in Hama, a city controlled by the Syrian government. The event was witnessed by a Reuters reporter.
Rescue personnel were spotted looking for survivors in the pouring rain and sleet on Syrian official television. According to his office, President Bashar al-Assad called a special cabinet meeting to assess the damage and deliberate the next course of action.
Erdogan claimed that 45 nations had expressed interest in assisting Turkey’s search and rescue operations.
Furthermore, a video released by Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority shows a rescuer crawling through a fallen building in the city of Malatya. The rescuer is on a mission to search for a survivor who is trapped beneath the rubble.
However, “What shade are your clothes? Do you have pink on? I cannot see anything else, so please take care of yourself for the time being,” the rescue worker could be heard saying.
