More than 1,700 people were killed while they slept and numerous others were trapped by a strong earthquake that slammed south-eastern Turkey, close to the Syrian border.
According to the US Geological Survey, the 7.8 magnitude earthquake occurred in the city of Gaziantep at 04:17 local time (01:17 GMT) with a depth of 17.9 kilometers (11 miles).
A second earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 struck the Elbistan district of the Kahramanmaras province hours later.
More than a thousand people have passed away in Turkey and 780 in Syria so far.
Earthquake Injuries and Fatalities
The initial earthquake was one of the biggest ever recorded in Turkey, according to seismologists.
There were many thousands of injuries, with at least 5,385 injuries in Turkey and 2,000 injuries in Syria.
Numerous victims are found in the war-torn region of northern Syria, where millions of refugees are housed in camps on both sides of the country’s border with Turkey. Numerous fatalities have been reported in regions controlled by the rebels.
Rescue teams have been sent in to look for survivors amid massive amounts of rubble in the frigid and icy weather after numerous buildings have collapsed.
Images of the devastation include mounds of rubble, four- to five-story buildings that have been completely demolished, and ruined roadways.
Gaziantep Castle, a historic structure that has stood for more than 2,000 years, was one of the structures that was destroyed. A BBC Turkish correspondent in the city of Diyarbakir also claimed that a retail center had collapsed.
The second earthquake, which occurred at 13:24 local time (10:24 GMT), had its epicentre in the Pazarcik district of Kahramanmaras province, roughly 80 miles (128 km) north of the first tremor.
The preceding earthquake was “independent” of this one, according to a disaster and emergency management authority official in Turkey.
A toddler was found alive and unclean and bloodied in Azaz, Syria, hours after the first earthquake. Rescuers can be seen rushing to get her out of the cold in the video.
The Turkish Red Crescent has encouraged people to donate blood, and its president, Kerem Kinik, said on Twitter that more blood and medical supplies were being rushed to the devastated area.
According to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, 45 countries have given assistance in response to a global request for assistance.
While search and rescue teams from the Netherlands and Romania are already en route to Turkey, the European Union is sending teams to Turkey.
The UK has announced that it will send 76 search and rescue personnel, tools, and dogs to Turkey.
The United States, Israel, France, and Germany have all expressed a desire to assist. Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, has pledged assistance to Iran, Turkey, and Syria.
Ten cities, including Hatay, Osmaniye, Adiyaman, Malatya, Sanliurfa, Adana, Diyarbakir, and Kilis, were reportedly hit by the initial quake, according to Turkish Interior Minister Suleymon Soylu. In those cities, classes have been out for at least a week.
The death toll from the earthquake, according to Turkish President Erdogan, is at 912 and is projected to continue to grow.
371 fatalities were reported by the Syrian health ministry in the provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama, and Tartus.
As he narrated the destruction in Sarmada, close to the Turkish border, a volunteer with the White Helmets rescue organization, which operates in rebel-controlled regions of northwestern Syria, fought back tears.
“Many buildings in different cities and villages in north-western Syria collapsed,” he told the BBC.
“Still now, many families are under the rubble. We are trying to save them but it’s a very hard task for us.
“We need help. We need the international community to do something, to help us, to support us. North-western Syria is now a disaster area. We need help from everyone to save our people,” he added.
The earthquake was strong enough to be felt in Israel, Cyprus, and Lebanon.
“I was writing something and just all of a sudden the entire building started shaking and yes I didn’t really know what to feel,” Mohamad El Chamaa, a student in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, told the BBC.
“I was right next to the window so I was just scared that they might shatter. It went on for four-five minutes and it was pretty horrific. It was mind-blowing,” he said.
A BBC producer in the Gaza Strip named Rushdi Abualouf reported feeling the house he was staying in shake for roughly 45 seconds.
Turkey is located in one of the seismically active regions of the planet. In 1999, a devastating earthquake that shook the country’s north-west claimed the lives of almost 17,000 people.
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