FGN News,
The death toll from the series of devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria continues to rise and so far more than 11 thousand people have died while more than 38 thousand people have been injured.
According to the US Geological Survey, yesterday’s 7.8 magnitude earthquake was followed by another 7.6 magnitude earthquake that caused further destruction.
According to the international news agency Reuters, 8 thousand 500 people died in Turkey and 2 thousand 500 in Syria. About 38,000 people were injured in the earthquake in Turkey. Hundreds of people are missing. The number of wounded in Syria is said to be more than 8 thousand.
According to Turkish authorities, 5,775 buildings were destroyed in the areas affected by the earthquake. Rescue teams continue to make efforts to free people trapped in the debris.
As time passes, the chance of survival of people covered in debris decreases. The rescue operation to evacuate them is day and night, but due to the extreme cold and snowfall in some areas, the victims are facing difficult conditions and are also having difficulty in the rescue operations. There have been more than 300 aftershocks since the earthquake. Because of the aftershocks, people are also very scared.
According to Turkish authorities, more than 8,000 people have been rescued from the rubble so far. 3 lakh 80 thousand earthquake victims were shifted to shelters. More than 13 million people were affected by the earthquake.
In the affected areas, teams from many countries are present, including Turkey and Syria, including Pakistan and Azerbaijan. Who is helping the victims including the local people.
Officials of the World Health Organization (WHO) expressed fear that the number of casualties in the two countries could reach 40,000 due to the terrible earthquake. More than 2.3 million people are expected to be affected by the earthquake, including 1.4 million children.
Disaster response teams in Turkey and Syria reported that more than 5,600 buildings collapsed in several cities, including several multi-story apartment blocks.
In a speech in Ankara, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the implementation of a state of emergency for 3 months in the areas affected by the earthquake.
The Turkish President said relief work is struggling due to the damage caused by the devastating earthquake.
He announced that 10 earthquake-prone cities in southern Turkey were declared a disaster and a state of emergency was imposed on the affected areas for 3 months, while 5 billion dollars were allocated for relief work.
The Turkish president said 45,000 shelters for displaced people will be built on a war footing, while earthquake victims are being considered for temporary accommodation in hotels in Anatolia.
He said, Turkey is currently suffering from the biggest tragedy in the world. More than 70 countries have offered aid and support to relief operations.
It should be noted that the strong earthquake in Turkey and Syria on Monday morning turned many buildings into piles of rubble, as a result of which dozens of people died and hundreds were injured. Several buildings were destroyed by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake. The epicenter of the earthquake was in the Nardagi area of Gazi Antap province, southern Turkey. While the depth of the earthquake was 17.9 km.
According to Turkish media, the earthquake was felt for a minute. Aftershocks of the earthquake were also felt in the central region of Turkey, which recorded a magnitude of 6.7. Aftershocks were felt 11 minutes later.
According to Turkish state TV, ten provinces were affected by the earthquake.
According to Turkish authorities, the strongest tremor was felt in the southeastern part of the country, where it caused extensive damage.
There are reports that many buildings have collapsed in Syria, but their number cannot be confirmed at the official level.
Tremors were also felt in Cyprus, Greece, Jordan and Lebanon.
It was also decided to send the army to the affected areas due to the widespread destruction caused by the severe earthquake.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his best wishes for all the people affected by the earthquake in his message on the social networking website Twitter.
He said, “Hopefully, we can get out of this disaster as soon as possible and with minimum damage.”
It should be noted that Turkey is one of the regions of the world where earthquakes are common.
In 1999, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake wreaked havoc in Turkey. More than 17,000 people died in this earthquake, of which more than 1,000 people died in Istanbul alone, but the current earthquake has been called the deadliest earthquake in the country’s history.