Home Latest News 7.8-Magnitude Earthquake Kills Nearly 300 across Türkiye, Syria

7.8-Magnitude Earthquake Kills Nearly 300 across Türkiye, Syria

One of the most powerful quakes to hit region in a century has affected southeastern parts of Türkiye home to millions of refugees

by AFP

Search and rescue works continue after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake hit southern provinces of Turkiye. Muzaffer Cagliyaner-Anadolu Agency—AFP

A 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Türkiye and Syria early on Monday, killing at least 284 people, leveling buildings while many were still asleep, and sending tremors that were felt as far away as the island of Cyprus and Egypt.

The emergency service in Türkiye put the initial death toll at 76, although it threatened to climb substantially higher because the night-time disaster had flattened dozens of apartment blocks across major cities. At least 119 people also died in government-controlled parts of Syria, as well as the northern areas held by pro-Turkish factions, according to the health ministry and a local hospital.

Turkish Vice-President Fuat Oktay said at least 284 people died in the quake, adding more than 2,300 people were injured. Television images showed shocked people in Türkiye standing in the snow in their pajamas, watching rescuers dig through the debris of damaged homes.

The quake struck at 4:17 a.m. local time at a depth of about 17.9 kilometers near the Turkish city of Gaziantep, which is home to around two million people, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Türkiye’s AFAD emergencies service center put the first quake’s magnitude at 7.4, adding that it was followed by more than 40 aftershocks. The earthquake was one of the most powerful to hit the region in at least a century, affecting southeastern parts of Türkiye that are home to millions of refugees from Syria and other war-torn parts of the world.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who will be under intense pressure to oversee an effective response to the disaster heading to a tightly-contested May 14 election, conveyed his sympathies and urged national unity. “We hope that we will get through this disaster together as soon as possible and with the least damage,” the Turkish leader tweeted.

U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Washington was “profoundly concerned,” adding “we stand ready to provide any and all needed assistance.”

Pakistan P.M. Shehbaz Sharif also issued a statement condoling the deaths and offering his sympathies. “Deeply saddened by the news of a massive earthquake that struck southeastern region of Türkiye. I send my profound condolences and most sincere sympathies to my brother President [Recep Tayyip Erdogan] and brotherly people of Türkiye on the loss of precious lives and damage to infrastructure,” he wrote on Twitter.

The earthquake struck a restive, predominantly Kurdish area of Türkiye near Syria, a country gripped by more than a decade of violence that has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions of people. Images on Turkish television showed rescuers digging through the rubble of leveled buildings in the city of Kahramanmaras and neighboring Gaziantep, where entire sections of cities were destroyed. A fire lit up the night sky in one image from Kahramanmaras, although its origin remained unclear.

Buildings also crumbled in the cities of Adiyaman, Malatya and Diyarbakir, where AFP reporters saw panicked people rush out on the street.

Kahramanmaras Governor Omer Faruk Coskun said it was too early to estimate the death toll because so many buildings were destroyed. “It is not possible to give the number of dead and injured at the moment because so many buildings have been destroyed,” Coskun said. “The damage is serious.”

A famous mosque dating back to the 13th century partially collapsed in the province of Maltaya, where a 14-story building with 28 apartments also collapsed. In other cities, rescuers sounded anguished as they struggled to reach survivors trapped under the debris. “We hear voices here—and over there, too,” one rescuer was overheard as saying on NTV television in front of a flattened building in Diyarbakir. “There may be 200 people under the rubble,” they added.

The Syrian health ministry reported damage across the provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama and Tartus, where Russia is leasing a naval facility. AFP correspondents in northern Syria said terrified residents ran out of their homes after the ground shook.

Raed Ahmed, who heads Syria’s National Earthquake Center, told pro-government radio that this was “historically, the biggest earthquake recorded in the history of the center.” Naci Gorur, an earthquake expert with Türkiye’s Academy of Sciences, urged local officials to immediately check the region’s dams for cracks to avert potentially catastrophic flooding.

Türkiye is in one of the world’s most active earthquake zones. The Turkish region of Duzce suffered a 7.4-magnitude earthquake in 1999—the worst to hit Turkey in decades. That quake killed more than 17,000 people, including about 1,000 in Istanbul. Experts have long warned a large quake could devastate Istanbul, which has allowed widespread building without safety precautions.

A magnitude-6.8 quake hit Elazig in January 2020, killing more than 40 people. And in October that year, a magnitude-7.0 quake hit Turkey’s Aegean coast, killing 114 people and wounding more than 1,000.

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