New Delhi: Goldfish swaying vigorously in an aquarium, a door moving back and forth on its own, and in the background, the deafening sound of crashing glass. This is not a description of the opening scene of a horror movie but scenes from a viral video of a house in Turkey when a powerful earthquake hit parts of the country and left at least 912 dead.
Hundreds of buildings turned to rubble as the devastating earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck central Turkey and northern Syria in the early hours of Monday. The Turkish Presidency has confirmed at least 912 deaths, with the Syrian health ministry pegging the toll at 237 for now. A report by The Associated Press puts the total toll at over 1,300.
Verified visuals circulating on social media show the exact moment when the powerful tremor struck parts of Turkey and Syria, and rescuers racing against time later to clear heaps of rubble to rescue those feared trapped underneath it.
A strong earthquake of magnitude 7.9 struck southern Turkey and was felt in Cyprus, Lebanon and Syria. Rescuers were searching for people trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings https://t.co/DsqXkAJXUW pic.twitter.com/kRbFp71qg7
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 6, 2023
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a tweet that the Ministry Of Interior Disaster And Emergency Management (AFAD) is overseeing search and rescue operations. Vice President Fuat Oktay told reporters later that 2,323 people are being treated for injuries. The AFAD has declared a “level 4 alarm” that calls for international assistance.
Rescue operations underway, a second earthquake of magnitude 7.6 struck southeastern Turkey’s Kahramanmaras region Monday afternoon.
In Damascus, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad chaired an emergency cabinet meeting Monday where a decision was made to implement an emergency nationwide action plan.
A round-the-clock central operations room has also been set up to coordinate search and rescue operations in the three most-affected provinces of Aleppo, Hama and Latakia provinces, state-run SANA news agency reported.
زلزال يدمر حي باكمله في مدينة حارم في ريف ادلب الشمالي . pic.twitter.com/jqpYmviQl7
— ميلاد فضل/ milad fadel (@freeehsem) February 6, 2023
According to the US Geological Survey, the earthquake originated at a depth of 17.9 km near Nurdağı in Turkey’s Gaziantep province around 4.17 am local time (6.47 am IST) and lasted for around 90 seconds. A powerful aftershock of magnitude 6.7 followed 11 minutes later and was felt in Lebanon, Cyprus, Greece and Israel.
The quake “resulted from strike-slip faulting at shallow depth”, the agency said, adding that only three earthquakes of magnitude 6 or larger have been recorded within a 250 km radius of the epicentre of the 6 February quake since 1970.
Turkish vice president Otkay told the media that nearly 900 buildings were destroyed in Gaziantep and Kahramanmaras provinces, and that hundreds are still believed to be trapped under the rubble. Affected provinces in Turkey include Osmaniye, Malatya, Adıyaman, Adana, Diyarbakır, Kilis, and Sanliurfa.
A powerful earthquake of over 7,4 magnitude has hit south-eastern Turkey, near the border w/ Syria, killing at least 10 people. Alarm level is raised to four and Interior Minister called for intl help. Tremor affected over 10 Turkish cities and felt as far as Lebanon and Syria pic.twitter.com/jDuuiJTqIn
— Selin Girit (@selingirit) February 6, 2023
Expressing anguish over the loss of lives and damage to property in Turkey, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet, “The sympathies of all 140 crore Indians are with the earthquake victims.” The government has decided to dispatch teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to assist Turkish authorities in the rescue operations.
In a statement issued Monday, the White House said it has directed the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and other federal government agencies to “assess US response options to help those most affected”.
Josep Borrell, the senior European Union (EU) diplomat, assured Turkey that the 27-nation bloc is “ready to help” Turkey and Syria. Teams from the Netherlands and Romania have been dispatched to Turkey to assist in the rescue operations with the EU’s Emergency Response Coordination overseeing their deployment.
An office bearer of the Syrian American Medical Society told Al Jazeera that hospitals in Syria are “overwhelmed” and civil defence teams are rummaging through rubble to rescue those buried under it.
(This is an updated version of the report)
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