A 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey and neighboring Syria on Monday, killing more than 300 people in both countries and causing extensive damage, according to initial reports.
The death toll in Syria from the earthquake has risen to 237 dead and 639 injured, the Syrian Ministry of Health announced on Monday. A previous toll reported 111 dead in areas under Syrian regime control, while the number of victims in rebel-held areas is not yet known. The 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit southern Turkey and neighboring Syria at dawn on Monday.
At least 76 people have been killed in Turkey in seven different provinces, according to the government’s disaster management agency (Afad). According to the American seismological institute USGS, the earthquake took place at 04:17 local time (01:17 GMT), at a depth of approximately 17.9 kilometers.
The epicenter is located in the district of Pazarcik, in the province of Kahramanmaras (southeast), about 60 km as the crow flies from the Syrian border. This earthquake is the largest in Turkey since the earthquake of August 17, 1999, which caused the death of 17,000 people, including a thousand in Istanbul.
At least 23 people have been killed and 420 others injured in Malatya province, its governor told public broadcaster TRT. The governor of Sanliurfa, quoted by the state agency Anadolu, reported 17 dead and 30 injured in his province. At least six others were killed in Diyarbakir province, its governor said.
People trapped under rubble
According to AFAD, the government’s disaster management agency, the earthquake that occurred overnight had a magnitude of 7.4 and a depth of 7 km. The tremors, felt across the southeast of the country, were also felt in Lebanon and Cyprus, according to AFP correspondents. Videos posted on social networks show destroyed buildings in several cities in the south-east of the country.
An AFP correspondent in Diyarbakir, a large city in the south-east of the country, saw a collapsed building, with rescuers hard at work trying to extricate people from the rubble. On Twitter, Turkish Internet users shared the identity and location of people trapped under the rubble in several cities in the south-east of the country.
Adana city mayor Zeydan Karalar said two 17-storey and 14-storey buildings were destroyed, according to TRT. Buildings were destroyed in many cities in the south-east of the country, including Adiyaman, Diyarbakir and Malatya, according to the private Turkish channel NTV, raising fears of victims.
(With AFP)