MM News

ANKARA/DAMASCUS: The death toll as a result of deadly quakes that struck Türkiye and Syria on Monday has climbed to 5,034 with more than 24,000 people injured, and affecting as many as nearly 2 million population in both countries.

Orhan Tatar, an official of disaster management agency AFAD, told media that as per accumulated data till to date, 5,575 buildings have been destroyed as a result of the earthquake, and some 24,443 personnel have been deployed to carry out rescue and relief work.

Eleven minutes after the initial quake, the region was hit by a 6.7-magnitude aftershock. A 7.5-magnitude quake came hours later, followed by another 6.0 spasm in the afternoon.

The road between Gaziantep and Adana appears to have completely collapsed #TurkeyQuake pic.twitter.com/d1P40tSBdd

— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) February 7, 2023

Reports gathered by various international multi media outlets revealed that thousands of people were calling specific help for Hatay where Turkish rescue workers couldn’t reach nearly for 24 hours. Eye witnesses told media thousands of people in Adiyaman were unaccounted for, and some were presumed dead. There was no means of communication left with people were out in the open in freezing cold.

Due to the powerful 7.8 earthquakes, normal flights to Kahramanmaraş, Hatay and Gaziantep airports were suspended in southeastern Türkiye.

Officials from Turkish Disaster Management Agency said death toll in Türkiye now stood at 3,432 with 20,426 injured. Officials said the two quakes were followed by 243 aftershocks, he said, adding that 16,400 rescue workers were active in the affected areas.

Health officials in Syria put the death toll at 1,602, and some 4,000 other injured, adding that the war-torn city of Aleppo is among the areas to have borne the brunt of the deadly earthquake.

Emergency rescue teams said many buildings were damaged or destroyed and that people were trapped under the rubble.

The region is home to millions of refugees displaced by the civil war.

Meanwhile, rescue teams from across globe, including US, Israel, Japan, Switzerland, Greece, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Russia, Hungary, Lebanon, Romania, Spain, Czech Republic depart to be deployed to Türkiye following devastating earthquake