ANKARA-(MaraviPost)-Over 600 people have died and thousands injured after a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit southern Turkey and northern Syria early Monday, February 6, 2023.
The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed news of the tragedy adding that search and rescue teams were immediately dispatched to the areas hit by the quake.
According to the US Geological Survey, the earthquake was centred about 33km (20 miles) from Gaziantep, a major city and provincial capital. It was about 18km (11 miles) deep, and a strong 6.7 aftershock rumbled about 10 minutes later.
Buildings were reported collapsed in a swath from Syria’s cities of Aleppo and Hama to Turkey’s Diyarbakir, more than 330 kilometers (200 miles) to the northeast, AP reported.
Turkey’s Interior Minister Suleymon Soylu said the 10 cities were heavily affected include Gaziantep, Kahramanmaras, Hatay, Osmaniye, Adiyaman, Malatya, Sanliurfa, Adana, Diyarbakir and Kilis.
So far at least 18 aftershocks with a magnitude of over 4 have been recorded and experts indicated that strong aftershocks are likely to continue in the hours and even days to come after an earthquake.
Turkey’s disaster agency has appealed for help from the international community as it conducts search and rescue operations in all the mostly hit areas.
Turkey sits on top of major fault lines and is frequently shaken by earthquakes.
The last known powerful earthquake in the region hit northwest Turkey in 1999 and claimed 18,000 lives with thousands more others injured.
