RIYADH/ANKARA: The death toll from Monday’s powerful earthquake that struck southeast Turkey and northern Syria rose to 360, as health officials in the Syrian capital Damascus said 237 people died in government-held areas of the country. happened. Hundreds more people were reported injured in both countries.
Rescue workers and residents searched for survivors under the rubble of crushed buildings in several towns on both sides of the border. In an earthquake-hit Turkish city, dozens of people dragged away chunks of concrete and bent metal. Inside a partially collapsed apartment building, people standing in the street shouted for others who were leaning dangerously close.
A resident in the Turkish city of Adana said three buildings near his house collapsed. “I don’t have the strength anymore,” said one resident, Muhammad Fatih Yawas, who could be heard calling out from under the rubble for a survivor as rescue workers tried to reach him. Further east in Diyarbakır, cranes and rescuers carried people on stretchers out of a mountain of pancake concrete that was once an apartment building.
Turkish officials said at least 20 aftershocks occurred a few hours later in daylight, the strongest measuring 6.6. The agency said 440 people were injured.
According to Syrian state media, the death toll in Syrian government-held areas rose to 237 and more than 630 were injured. At least 47 people were reported killed in rebel-held areas.
Buildings collapsed in the flood from the cities of Aleppo and Hama in Syria to Diyarbakir in Turkey, more than 330 kilometers to the northeast.
On the Syrian side of the border, the earthquake rattled opposition-held areas that are filled with some 4 million people displaced from other parts of Syria by the country’s long civil war. Many of them live in dilapidated conditions with little health care, with Russia-backed Syrian forces besieging the area and carrying out occasional airstrikes. Rescuers said hospitals in the area were overcrowded.
“We fear the death toll is in the hundreds,” doctor Muhib Kaddor said by phone from the town of Atmeh, referring to the entire rebel-held area. Raed Salah, head of the emergency organization White Helmets in opposition areas, said entire neighborhoods had collapsed in some areas.
The quake, felt as far away as Cairo, was centered north of the city of Gaziantep, in an area about 90 kilometers from the Syrian border.
On the Turkish side, the region contains several large cities and is home to millions of Syrian refugees.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Twitter that “search and rescue teams were immediately dispatched” to areas affected by the quake.
He wrote, “We hope that we will overcome this disaster together as soon as possible and with the least loss.”
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu urged people not to enter damaged buildings because of the risk. “Our priority is to rescue people trapped under the damaged buildings and shift them to hospitals,” he said.
Gov. Hulusi Sahin said at least 130 buildings collapsed in Turkey’s Malatya province, adjacent to the epicenter. At least 15 buildings collapsed in the Turkish city of Diyarbakir. Rescuers called for silence as they listed for survivors in the 11-story building.
In northwest Syria, the opposition Syrian Civil Defense described the situation in the rebel-held area as “catastrophic”, saying entire buildings had collapsed and people were buried under rubble. Civil Defense urged people to evacuate buildings to gather in open areas. Amjad Ras, president of the Syrian American Medical Society, said emergency rooms were filled with the wounded.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement on Sunday that US President Biden directed USAID and other federal government partners to assess response options in the areas most affected by the Turkey and Syria earthquakes.
He said that the US is very concerned about the news of the devastating earthquake.
The US Geological Survey said the quake was centered about 33 km from Gaziantep, a major city and provincial capital. It was centered at a depth of 18 km, and a strong aftershock of magnitude 6.7 occurred about 10 minutes later.
Syrian state media reported that some buildings collapsed in the northern city of Aleppo and the central city of Hama.
In Damascus, buildings began to shake and many people took to the streets in fear.
The earthquake jolted residents out of bed in Lebanon, buildings shook for about 40 seconds. Many Beirut residents fled their homes and took to the streets or drove away from buildings in their cars.
The quake occurred as the Middle East is experiencing a snow storm that is expected to continue until Thursday.
Turkiye is located on top of a major fault line and is frequently shaken by earthquakes.
About 18,000 people were killed in the powerful earthquakes that struck northwest Turkey in 1999.
The quake occurred as the Middle East is experiencing a snow storm that is expected to continue until Thursday.
Citizens as far away as Jerusalem and Beirut reported being awakened by the strong shaking. Nasip (@iam_nasib) commented on a video posted to Twitter: “I live in Gaziantep, Turkey. Was sleeping when it started. Absolutely terrifying.”
Amy Di Nardo (@amybellabella) said, “Felt it in Jerusalem.”
Sagittarius (@JRsagittarius) said he was in Beirut and the experience was “horrible.”
Carolingston (@carolingston) from Cyprus said he was woken up because “my bed was shaking.”
“Felt it in Lebanon. It was a hell of a feeling!” Chime in Charbelrahme (@charbelrahm_e)
Turkey is one of the most active earthquake zones in the world.
Düz was one of the areas hit by the 7.4 magnitude earthquake in 1999 – the worst to hit Turkey in decades.
That earthquake killed more than 17,000 people, including about 1,000 in Istanbul.
Experts have long warned that a major earthquake could devastate Istanbul, which has allowed extensive construction without safety precautions.
In January 2020, Elazig was hit by a 6.8 magnitude earthquake, which killed over 40 people.
And in October of that year, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck the Aegean Sea, killing 114 and injuring more than 1,000.
(with agencies)