Syria's Civil Defence says victims stuck under rubble after Turkey earthquake
Syrian civil defence operating in rebel-held areas said on Monday that a powerful earthquake that struck Turkey and northern Syria had left "tens of victims and people stuck under rubble" of collapsed buildings in the country's north-west. The civil defence, known as the White Helmets, said in a post on Twitter that the volunteer group was working to rescue survivors.
130 buildings tumbled down in Turkey’s Malatya province, says Governor Hulusi Sahin
At least 130 buildings tumbled down in Turkey’s Malatya province, Governor Hulusi Sahin said. In northwest Syria, the opposition’s Syrian Civil Defense described the situation in the rebel-held region as “disastrous” adding that entire buildings have collapsed and people are trapped under the rubble. The civil defense urged people to evacuate buildings to gather in open areas. Emergency rooms were full of injured, said Rass.
Quake centred about 90 km from Syrian border
The quake, felt as far away as Cairo, was centred north of the city of Gaziantep about 90 kilometres (60 miles) from the Syrian border. Along with several cities, the area is home to home to millions of Syrian refugees who fled their country’s long-running civil war. Turkey, which borders Syria to the north, hosts the largest number of Syrian refugees in the world. On the Syrian side of the border, the quake smashed opposition-held regions that are packed with several million displaced Syrians with a decrepit health care system after years of war.
There were at least 6 aftershocks, and Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu urged people not to enter damaged buildings due to the risks. “Our priority is to bring out people trapped under ruined buildings and to transfer them to hospitals,” he said. Syria’s state media reported that some buildings collapsed in the northern city of Aleppo and the central city of Hama. In Damascus, buildings shook and many people went down to the streets in fear. The quake jolted residents in Lebanon from their beds, shaking buildings for about 40 seconds. Meanwhile, Syrian civil defence operating in rebel-held areas said on Monday that a powerful earthquake that struck Turkey and northern Syria had left "tens of victims and people stuck under rubble" of collapsed buildings in the country's north-west, Reuters reported.
Follow the latest updates from the earthquake in Turkey and Syria here.
President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday admitted there were problems with his government’s initial response to a devastating earthquake in southern Turkey, amid anger from those left destitute and frustrated over the slow arrival of rescue teams.
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Erdogan, who contests an election in May, said on a visit to the disaster zone that operations were now working normally and promised no one would be left homeless, as the combined reported death toll across Turkey and neighbouring Syria rose past 12,000, reports Reuters.
Across a swathe of southern Turkey, people sought temporary shelter and food in freezing winter weather, and waited in anguish by piles of rubble where family and friends might still lie buried. Rescuers were still finding some people alive. But many Turks have complained of a lack of equipment, expertise and support to rescue those trapped – sometimes even as they could hear cries for help. Read Full Report
Ten Indian nationals are stuck in remote parts of earthquake-hit Turkey and one citizen is missing, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Wednesday while giving out details of ‘Operation Dost’, under which India has extended assistance to the devastated nation.
Stating that the 10 Indian nationals are safe, Sanjay Verma, Secretary (West) in MEA, said the missing Indian national was on a business visit to Turkey in Malatya.
“He has not been traced for the last two days. We have been in touch with his family and the company in Bengaluru which employs him,” Verma said.
He said the MEA has set up a special help desk in Ankara to receive and anticipate such queries. “We have received calls from about 75 persons, asking the embassy for more information and assistance,” he said. “Three other Indians who had approached us have moved to safer habitation and are doing alright. We have already deputed teams for rescue operations to the affected areas.”
Besides the vastness of the geographical spread of the area affected, the climatic conditions are harsh, Verma said. Temperatures are sub-zero at night; transport and communication links have been disturbed; and cellphone towers have been affected, “so communication can be patchy,” he said. Read Full Report
With hope of finding survivors fading, stretched rescue teams in Turkey and Syria searched Wednesday for signs of life in the rubble of thousands of buildings toppled by the world’s deadliest earthquake in more than a decade.
The confirmed death toll approached 12,000.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the especially hard-hit Hatay province, where more than 3,300 people died and entire neighborhoods were destroyed. Residents there have criticized the government’s response, saying rescuers were slow to arrive, reports AP.
Erdogan, who faces a tough battle for reelection in May, acknowledged “shortcomings” in the response to Monday’s 7.8 magnitude quake but said the winter weather had been a factor.
The earthquake destroyed the runway in Hatay’s airport, further disrupting the response.“It is not possible to be prepared for such a disaster,” Erdogan said. “We will not leave any of our citizens uncared for.” Read Full Report
The World Health Organization is deploying expert teams and flights with medical supplies to Turkey and Syria after Monday's devastating earthquake. It will send a high-level delegation to coordinate its response as well as three flights with medical supplies, one of which is already on its way to Istanbul, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a media briefing on Wednesday.
"The health needs are tremendous," said Dr Iman Shankiti, the WHO representative for Syria. The combined death toll in the two countries is currently more than 11,000 people. WHO officials have previously estimated that the toll may reach more than 20,000 deaths after the disaster.
Many thousands are also injured, Shankiti said, adding that the Syrian healthcare system was already on its knees after years of war. In Turkey, WHO representative Batyr Berdyklychev said more than 53,000 people were injured and aftershocks are continuing. As well as trauma kits, WHO emergencies director Mike Ryan said that mental health support was also critical for survivors, as well as supporting other ongoing medical needs. WHO has released $3 million for its initial response. (Reuters)
The Turkish police arrested five and detained at least 18 people for what was described as “provocative posts” on social media about Turkey’s deadly earthquake, according to a tweet from the force.
With the hope of finding survivors fading, stretched rescue teams in Turkey and Syria are searching for signs of life in the rubble of thousands of buildings toppled by a catastrophic earthquake. The confirmed death toll from the world’s deadliest quake in more than a decade passed 11,000.
Doctor Mohamad Zitoun spent years treating casualties from the Syrian war but has never experienced anything like the number of injured and the scale of their injuries following Monday's devastating earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria. "This is a huge calamity. I lived through shelling and survived massacres. This is totally different, terrifying and horrific," said the 34 year old surgeon from Aleppo, who has worked round the clock since the earthquakes in a hospital in Bab al Hawa by Syria's border to Turkey.
The hospital is in an opposition-held enclave in northwest Syria, an area which bore the brunt of Russian and Syrian bombing during the country's conflict, which killed hundreds of thousands, and where the towns are heavily populated with those who fled other areas of Syria. "The first massive wave of patients surpassed the ability of any medical team," said the surgeon. The outpatient clinic was turned into a ward and mattresses were laid on the floor as the rooms filled with victims and despairing family members. (Reuters)
Two days after a major earthquake killed more than 11,000 people in Turkey and Syria, Twitter has been restricted in Turkey, Netblocks internet observatory said.
Netblocks, tweeted that the real-time network data showed a restriction of Twitter across major internet providers."Real-time network data show Twitter has been restricted in Turkey; the filtering is applied on major internet providers and comes as the public come to rely on the service in the aftermath of a series of deadly earthquakes," Netblocks said (Reuters)
A senior UN aid official said they were hopeful that deliveries of critical cross-border aid from Turkey to northwest Syria could resume on Thursday, after being paused since a devastating earthquake struck the two countries this week. Reuters reported.
During an online press briefing, UN Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, Muhannad Hadi said, "We are hoping that tomorrow we will be able to deliver something across the border". "We have a glimpse of hope that the road is accessible and we can reach the people," he added.
Britain said on Wednesday it would provide more support, including items such as tents and blankets, to help survivors in freezing conditions in Turkey and Syria following earthquakes there. "Our priority is to ensure life saving assistance is given to those most in need, coordinated with the Turkish government, UN and international partners," Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in the statement.
The government said the equipment would meet the needs of up to 15,000 people. The death toll from the disaster which struck on Monday crossed 11,000 on Wednesday (Reuters)
Take a look at some of the latest images from Turkey, Syria, as search and rescue efforts continue across the zone affected by the earthquake, known to have killed at least 11,200 people. (Pictures: Reuters)
More than 2,98,000 people have been displaced from their homes in Syria due to Monday's deadly earthquake, The Guardian quoted Syrian state media as reporting.
The number appeared to be a reference to only the parts of Syria under government control, not those held by other factions in the north-west of the country, which is closer to the epicentre of Monday’s quake, Guardian reported.
The Ministry of External Affairs said that one Indian was missing, and ten others are currently stuck in remote parts of Turkey, after a deadly earthquake hit the country Monday, leading to the death of 8,754 people, news agency PTI reported.
Following criticism over slow rescue efforts in affected areas of Turkey after a series of deadly earthquakes struck Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that while there were some problems in the initial response, operations were now back to normal.
Erdogan said, "Initially there were issues at airports and on the roads, but today things are getting easier and tomorrow it will be easier still". "We have mobilized all our resources," he added. "The state is doing its job."
After Monday's earthquake brought down his family's building in Syria's battle-scarred second city of Aleppo, Youssef managed to reach one of his trapped relatives by phone, hearing voices despite a bad line. Since then the 25-year-old has been standing in near-freezing weather by the rubble, unable to get through again.
"I have been waiting for news of my father, my mother, my brother, my sister and her son. Nothing is known about them so far," he said. "I talked to them and heard their voices, but unfortunately, as you can see here, they're very slow at work and they don't have enough equipment," he said of rescue efforts.
On the streets, men, women and children wrapped in blankets huddled on sidewalks around fires on Wednesday morning. Many slept in cars and vans parked near where their homes once stood. Others lay on the cold ground. (Reuters)
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Wednesday that the death toll from Monday’s devastating earthquake reached 8,754, Reuters reported. Combined with the 2,470 known deaths in Syria, the total official death toll to 11,224. Anger has mounted in the quake-hit Turkish cities over what was described as a slow and inadequate response by authorities.
A container blaze at Turkey's southern port of Iskenderun has been brought under control, Turkey's maritime authority said on Wednesday, following combined extinguishing efforts from land, sea, and air, Reuters reported.
The port operations were shut down until further notice after a fire broke out due to the earthquake that hit the region on Monday. "Pending ships should be directed to other facilities as ship handling services cannot be provided," the authority said in a tweet.
A source from the port told Reuters that the flames had not spread to the area where flammable materials were stored, and that the nature of the fire, which has unleashed a huge cloud of black smoke over the city, was still unclear.
As the death toll due to an earthquake in Turkey and its neighbor Syria mounted to nearly 10,000, Pope Francis on Wednesday offered his prayers for the thousands of victims affected and called on the international community to continue to support rescue and recovery efforts, Reuters reported.
Addressing his weekly audience in the Paul VI Hall in the Vatican, he said, "I am praying for them with emotion and I wanted to say that I am close to these people, to the families of the victims, and everyone who is suffering from this devastating disaster".
"I thank those who are offering help and encourage everyone to show solidarity with these countries, some of which have already been battered by a long war," he added. (Courtesy: Reuters)
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday arrived to inspect the regions affected by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake which hit the country two days ago, Reuters reported.
A fresh team of 51 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel are being rushed to Turkey even as two teams present there have launched rescue operations at multiple collapsed structures, Director General of the force Atul Karwal was quoted by news agency PTI. The third team of the federal contingency force has already been airlifted from Varanasi to Delhi and the rescuers are expected to leave for the disaster-struck nation by tonight on board an IAF plane, he said. (PTI)
As the death toll in earthquake-hit Turkey and Syria neared 10,000, 64-year-old Melek, in the southern Turkish city of Antakya, asked "Where are the tents, where are food trucks?", adding that she had not seen any rescue teams.
"We haven't seen any food distribution here, unlike previous disasters in our country. We survived the earthquake, but we will die here due to hunger or cold here," Melek said.
With the scale of the disaster becoming ever more apparent, the death toll rose above 7,100 in Turkey. In Syria, already devastated by 11 years of war, the confirmed toll climbed to more than 2,500 overnight, according to the Syrian government and a rescue service operating in the rebel-held northwest. (Reuters)
Thinly-stretched rescue teams worked through the night into Wednesday, pulling more bodies from the rubble of thousands of buildings downed in Turkey and Syria by a catastrophic earthquake that killed more than 8,000, their grim task occasionally punctuated by the joy of finding someone still alive. Turkey’s disaster management agency said the country’s death toll had risen to 6,234 as more bodies had been recovered. Over 8,000 fatalities have been reported, including those from neighbouring Syria.
Amid calls for the government to send more help to the disaster zone, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was to travel to town of Pazarcik, the epicenter of the quake, and to the worst-hit province of Hatay on Wednesday. Read more here
Thinly stretched rescue teams worked through the night in Turkey and Syria, pulling more bodies from the rubble of thousands of buildings toppled by a catastrophic earthquake. The death toll rose Wednesday to more than 9,500, making the quake the deadliest in more than a decade.
Turkey's disaster management agency said the country's death toll had risen to 7,108, bringing the overall total to 9,638, including fatalities reported in neighbouring Syria, since Monday's earthquake and multiple aftershocks. The death toll in government-held areas of Syria has climbed to 1,250, with 2,054 injured, according to the Health Ministry.
At least 1,280 people have died in the rebel-held northwest, according to volunteer first responders known as the White Helmets, with more than 2,600 injured. That surpassed the 8,800 killed in a magnitude 7.8 earthquake in Nepal in 2015. (AP)
China will offer emergency humanitarian aid of 30 million yuan ($4.4 million) to earthquake-hit Syria, its foreign ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, told a regular news briefing on Wednesday.
Mao said $2 million of the emergency aid would be used for cash and urgently needed relief supplies, adding that China would speed up existing food aid projects.
China has already committed to give a first tranche of 40 million yuan in emergency aid to Turkey. An earthquake rescue team sent by China arrived at Turkey's Adana Airport early on Wednesday, state broadcaster CCTV said. The 82-strong team brought 20 tonnes of medical and other rescue supplies and equipment, as well as four search-and-rescue dogs, CCTV added. (Reuters)
India Wednesday handed over six tonnes of relief materials, including essential medicines and medical equipment, to earthquake-hit Syria.
The consignments were sent on a C-130J military transport aircraft on Tuesday night and were handed over to the Syrian authorities by India's Charge'd Affaires S K Yadav this morning.
India has already sent to Turkiye relief materials, a mobile hospital and specialised search and rescue teams in four C-17 Globemaster military transport aircraft on Tuesday to support the country's rescue efforts following the massive earthquake that has killed thousands of people. (AP)
A helicopter and a plane are fighting a renewed blaze at the southern Iskenderun port, Turkey's agriculture ministry said on Wednesday, after the fire was extinguished a day earlier.
Operations at the port were shut down after a fire broke out due to the massive earthquakes that hit the region on Monday, while freight liners diverted vessels to other ports.The defence ministry had said the fire was extinguished on Tuesday evening. (Reuters)
The official death toll of a devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria jumped to more than 8,700 people on Wednesday as overwhelmed rescuers warned that the number would grow significantly with families still trapped under the rubble.
With the scale of the disaster becoming ever more apparent, the death toll — now 6,234 in Turkey — looks likely to keep on rising. In neighbouring Syria, already devastated by 11 years of war, the death toll climbed to more than 2,500 overnight, according to the Syrian government and a rescue service operating in the rebel-held northwest. (Reuters)
The death toll in Turkey from earthquakes in its south rose to 6,234 by Wednesday morning, the Disaster Management Authority (AFAD) said.
The number of those injured rose to 37,011, the agency said, adding that more than 79,000 personnel were engaged in search and rescue operations. (Reuters)
Afghanistan's Taliban administration will send around $165,000 in aid to Turkey and Syria to help the response to a devastating magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck this week, according to a foreign ministry statement.
Afghanistan is in the grips of a severe economic and humanitarian crisis and is itself the location of one of the United Nation's largest humanitarian aid programs. The Taliban took over in 2021 as foreign forces withdrew, sparking enforcement of sanctions on its banking sector, and no capital has formally recognised its government.
"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan ... announces a relief package of 10 million Afghanis ($111,024) and 5 million Afghanis ($55,512) to Türkiye and Syria respectively on the basis of shared humanity and Islamic brotherhood," a Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement said late on Tuesday. (Reuters)
Flags of all 30 member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) flew at half-mast at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels in honour of those who lost their lives in the devastating earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria earlier this week.
The flag of NATO flew at half mast on Tuesday after a deadly 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Turkey on Monday, CNN reported.
"All flags at NATO Headquarters are at half-mast today in solidarity with our Ally #Turkiye," NATO said in a tweet. (ANI)
Another earthquake of magnitude 4.3 jolted Nurdagi district, a city in Gaziantep Province of Turkey on Wednesday, reported the news agency ANI.
The quake was reported around 8.31 am at a depth of 10 km, 15 km south of Nurdagi, reported by the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
We will have a better idea of the answer to this in a day or two. The activation of the fault where the 7.5 aftershock occurred could in turn produce aftershocks of its own, which means we are not in the clear yet. Even when they are smaller in magnitude, aftershocks can still be devastating. A small tremor may be enough to lead an already half-demolished building to collapse, causing major destruction.
"An aftershock will often do a disproportionate amount of damage relative to its size, just because the buildings are in a weakened state," seismologist Roger Musson, an honorary research associate with the British Geological Survey, told DW. "This is one reason why, after major earthquakes, civil defense authorities will go around and mark buildings which are in a damaged state and therefore unsafe, warning people not to get back into them." (Read more)
A large fire at the earthquake-stricken port of Iskenderun in Turkey has been put out, the defense ministry said. The blaze forced operations to cease and freight liners to divert vessels to other ports.
Footage from the scene showed black smoke billowing from burning containers at the port, which is located on the Mediterranean Sea.
It's believed the fire began when containers toppled over during Monday's earthquakes. The earthquake also caused other structural damage at the port, Turkey's maritime authority said. (Deutsche Welle)
In a bid to provide relief to the quake-hit Turkey, India is sending an Army medical team, National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) personnel, and medical supplies. The West Asian nation was struck by a series of massive earthquakes on Monday (February 6) killing over 5,000 people and injuring thousands.
Sending aid to Turkey is yet another instance of India quickly coming in support of a country hit by a natural disaster. In the last 15 years, India has carried out several disaster relief operations and emerged as a leading actor during such emergencies, especially in its neighbourhood. (Read more)
Indian Air Force's Globemaster C-17 with 100 Indian Army officials along with medical equipment took off for Turkey from Hindon Airbase, Ghaziabad Monday.
Speaking to ANI, Commanding Officer said, "We are taking a level II medical facility to Turkey to treat earthquake victims. A total of 100 Army officials are leaving from here. Medical specialists including surgeons, orthopaedic surgeons, critical care specialists, preventive medical specialist, dental officers along with the paramedical staff are present with us." (ANI)
Turkish state broadcaster Anadolu Agency has been sharing footage of the rescue operations for the past two days. Here's a look at how a 45-year-old woman was rescued by the fire brigade team in Besni district in Türkiye's southeastern Adiyaman province.
A boy is rescued from the rubble following an earthquake in Hatay, Turkey on February 7, 2023 in this still image taken from video.
In his farewell speech shortly before Christmas 2022, Burak Ozugergin, the Turkish ambassador to Athens at the time, expressed the hope "that we won't need fires, earthquakes, or other disasters to remind us that we are neighbors."
A few weeks later, these words proved almost prophetic. The catastrophic earthquake that rocked the border region of southern Turkey and northern Syria seems to have brought the two hostile neighbors, Turkey and Greece, closer together.
In Greece, both politicians and the general public have responded to the natural disaster with shock and dismay. Athens immediately offered help, and there have been declarations of solidarity at every level: The Greek president, government, political parties, unions, and all sorts of civil society organizations immediately expressed their sympathy and willingness to help.
It is not a long way to Gaziantep from Greece, and because of its own experience in dealing with earthquakes, Athens has advanced expertise in the field. Within just a few hours, Greece's special EMAK unit was heading to the disaster zone, dispatched by the government in Athens. A C130 military cargo plane also left for Turkey laden with humanitarian and medical supplies and carrying sniffer dogs, doctors, and first-aiders. Seismologists and the president of Greece's Earthquake Protection Agency, Efthymios Lekkas, were also on board. (Deutsche Welle)
Rescuers from Turkey and Syria, and increasingly from around the world as international assistance arrived, continue to search the rubble for survivors early Wednesday after major earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.
Officials say the number of dead was at 7,926 in total.
Turkey's Vice President Fuat Oktay said late on Tuesday that 5,894 people had been killed and 34,810 injured in Turkey, as search operations continued in freezing winter temperatures, approaching 48 hours since the first major quake.
In Syria, state news agency SANA reported that at least 812 people had been killed and 1,449 injured in government-controlled areas. The White Helmets organisation coordinating rescue efforts in rebel-held territory said at least 1,220 people were killed and 2,600 injured. (DW)
Rescuers from Turkey and Syria, and increasingly from around the world as international assistance arrived, continue to search the rubble for survivors early Wednesday after major earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.
Officials say the number of dead was at 7,926 in total.
Turkey's Vice President Fuat Oktay said late on Tuesday that 5,894 people had been killed and 34,810 injured in Turkey, as search operations continued in freezing winter temperatures, approaching 48 hours since the first major quake.
In Syria, state news agency SANA reported that at least 812 people had been killed and 1,449 injured in government-controlled areas. The White Helmets organisation coordinating rescue efforts in rebel-held territory said at least 1,220 people were killed and 2,600 injured. (DW)
As two powerful earthquakes struck Turkey’s southeast on Monday, many residential buildings simply collapsed, as if compressed like accordions, trapping residents under huge piles of debris while other nearby buildings somehow remained intact.
Although experts agreed that the quakes were strong enough to cause severe damage even to some structures built to strict seismic standards, the pancake collapse of so many buildings has raised questions about construction regulations and compliance with codes aimed at making buildings earthquake safe. (Read more)
An earthquake rescue team dispatched by China's government arrived at Turkey's Adana Airport early Wednesday, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Wednesday.
The team, comprised of 82 members, brought 20 tonnes of medical and other rescue supplies and equipment, as well as four search-and-rescue dogs, according to CCTV.
The team will cooperate with the local government, the embassy in Turkey, the United Nations and other agencies on missions, including setting up a temporary command, carrying out personnel search and rescue and providing medical aid, CCTV said. (Reuters)
Sanjay Bhattacharyya writes
The tremors came before dawn and the earth shook, like never before in living memory. The people of Kahramanmara?, in southern Turkey, close to the Syrian border, were woken up abruptly, and before their eyes, their homes crashed to the ground. The earth was like the ocean in a tempest as waves rippled outwards, to the south towards Gaziantep and beyond to Aleppo in Syria, to the east towards Diyarbak?r and Mardin, to the north towards Malatya, and to the west towards Osmaniye and Adana, bringing death and destruction in its wake to 10 provinces in Turkey and northern Syria. It was a horrific tragedy.
I feel a sense of personal pain and anguish. From the time I served as the Ambassador of India to Turkey, I had many friends in the region, who maintained business and cultural connections with India. I also travelled extensively in the region and savoured its culture, meeting wonderful people. The region has been at the crossroads of civilisation for millennia with historical sites dating back to the Hittite, Greek, Roman, Persian, Arab and early Turkish periods. They possess a composite culture and embrace different faiths. There is an urgent need to combine all efforts to bring succour to the people who face a human tragedy, in this terrible hour. (Read more)
Amid the devastation caused by earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, a video of a young girl being pulled out alive from the rubble after more than 12 hours has surfaced online. Thousands are still trapped in the debris, and the search for survivors is on after the earthquakes caused widespread damage in Turkey and Syria on Monday.
A video shared by the Twitter page Goodable shows the miraculous rescue operation of the young girl. The girl looks shocked and dazed but appears to have miraculously survived any serious injury as she was pulled out from the debris by rescuers.
A rescuer promptly lifted her for further treatment. “These rescuers just pulled a young girl alive from the rubble more than 12 hours after the earthquake in Turkey,” says the caption. (Read more)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent condolences to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that has killed over 7,800 people in Syria and Turkey, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported Wednesday, citing the North's state media. (Reuters)
Residents in a northwest Syrian town discovered a crying infant whose mother appears to have given birth to her while buried underneath the rubble of a five-story apartment building leveled by this week’s devastating earthquake, relatives and a doctor said Tuesday.
The newborn girl was found buried under the debris with her umbilical cord still connected to her mother, Afraa Abu Hadiya, who was found dead, they said. The baby was the only member of her family to survive from the building collapse Monday in the small town of Jinderis, next to the Turkish border, Ramadan Sleiman, a relative, told The Associated Press.
The rescuers found the baby Monday afternoon, more than 10 hours after the quake struck. A female neighbor cut the cord, and she and others rushed with the baby to a children’s hospital in the nearby town of Afrin, where she has been kept in an incubator, said the physician treating the baby, Dr. Hani Maarouf. The baby’s body temperature had fallen to 35 degrees Celsius and she had bruises, including a large one on her back, but she is in stable condition, he said. (AP)
Turkish authorities say more than 12,000 search and rescue personnel and 9,000 troops are working in the affected areas. President Tayyip Erdogan called a state of emergency to bolster the responses.
A challenge in the way of the rescue efforts is the scale of the disaster, requiring a huge mobilisation of manpower to help look for survivors.
A day after a devastating earthquake tore through Turkey and northern Syria, rescue workers were still thin on the ground in Antakya, forcing residents to pick through rubble sometimes without even basic tools in a desperate hunt for survivors.
Trying to find family, friends and neighbours, dead or alive, people in the southern Turkish city are asking each other for helmets, hammers, iron rods and strong rope to lift debris as they wait for more help to arrive.
While countries have scrambled to answer Turkey's call to send rescue teams to the afflicted areas, an array of problems from freezing wintry conditions, destroyed roads and a scarcity of trucks and heavy machinery have hampered relief efforts. The lack of help has already prompted scuffles between residents and rescue workers in Antakya, with people pleading with rescuers to save their loved ones. (Reuters)
Hundreds of shipping containers were ablaze at Turkey's Iskenderun Port on Tuesday, shutting down operations and forcing freight liners to divert vessels to other ports.
Turkey's maritime authority said on Monday that the port, located on the Mediterranean coast in the southern province of Hatay, was damaged due to the earthquake that struck Turkey and neighbouring Syria.
Drone footage showed fierce flames blackening hundreds of containers on the dock, with water jets from a fire truck dwarfed by the scale of the blaze that broke out on Monday. Thick black smoke billowed into the sky. (Reuters)
The Turkish flag flew at half-mast at the Embassy of Turkey in Delhi to mourn the deaths of over 5,000 people in the country and neighbouring Syria following a devastating earthquake.
Across northwestern Syria on Monday, apartment blocks, shops, even entire neighborhoods were wiped out in seconds by a powerful earthquake, in scenes that were all too familiar to a region devastated by more than a decade of civil war.
Millions of people displaced by the years of fighting have fled to the north, the only place that remains outside government control. They sheltered in tents, ancient ruins and any other place they could find after their former homes were destroyed. Read more
The magnitude 7.8 quake and its aftershocks have unleashed a humanitarian disaster of unfathomable proportions.
Governments around the world are pledging assistance, deploying search teams, medical squads and equipment, and offering aid, as families who have lost their homes endure near-freezing temperatures.
Here are some ways you can help.
Footballer Christian Atsu has been successfully rescued from the rubble of a collapsed building in Turkey and is receiving treatment, the Ghana Football Club tweeted.Former Chelsea and Newcastle winger Atsu was among those who had gone missing after the first quake hit Turkey two days ago.
Iraq hopes to resume pumping oil through Turkey on Tuesday afternoon after safety checks following two devastating earthquakes revealed no damage.
“They checked the pipes and there was no damage to them or to the storage tanks,” an official from SOMO, Iraq’s state oil-marketing firm, said to Bloomberg. “The pumping could resume today. It is highly probable to resume.”
State pipeline operator Botas had halted flows to the facility as a precaution on Monday morning, after the first of the two massive earthquakes shook the region.
President Tayyip Erdogan declared as a disaster zone the 10 provinces affected by the devastating earthquakes in southern Turkey, imposing a state of emergency in the region for three months.
Erdogan said that 70 countries had offered help in search and rescue operations and that Turkey planned to open up hotels in the tourism hub of Antalya, to the west, to temporarily house people impacted by the quakes. He said the death toll in Turkey had risen to 3,549 people. (Reuters)