Turkey, Syria earthquake toll hits 4,500
ANKARA, February 7, 2023
Rescue teams worked early on Tuesday to release people trapped in the rubble of buildings in southern Turkey as the death toll in the country from a devastating earthquake a day earlier rose to nearly 3,000, a Reuters report said.
The magnitude 7.8 quake hit Turkey and neighbouring Syria early on Monday, toppling entire apartment blocks, wrecking hospitals, and leaving thousands more people injured or homeless.
About 1,450 people were killed in Syria and about 3,500 injured, according to figures from the Damascus government and rescue workers in the northwestern region controlled by insurgents.
Nearly 8,000 people have been rescued from 4,758 buildings destroyed in the tremors a day earlier, Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said in its latest statement.
AFAD head Yunus Sezer said that 2,921 people had died in Turkey as aftershocks continued to shake the region. Another earthquake of 5.6 magnitude struck central Turkey on Tuesday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said.
Freezing winter weather hampered search efforts for survivors through the night. A woman's voice was heard calling for help under a pile of rubble in the southern province of Hatay. Nearby, the body of a small child lay lifeless.
The earthquake, which was followed by a series of aftershocks, was the biggest recorded worldwide by the US Geological Survey since a tremor in the remote South Atlantic in August 2021.
It was the deadliest earthquake in Turkey since a quake of similar magnitude in 1999 that killed more than 17,000. Nearly 16,000 were reported injured in Monday's quake.
Poor internet connections and damaged roads between some of the worst-hit cities in Turkey's south, homes to millions of people, hindered efforts to assess and address the impact.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, preparing for a tough election in May, called the quake a historic disaster and said authorities were doing all they could.
"Everyone is putting their heart and soul into efforts although the winter season, cold weather and the earthquake happening during the night makes things more difficult," he said. He said 45 countries had offered to help the search and rescue efforts.
