• Thanks for stopping by. Logging in to a registered account will remove all generic ads. Please reach out with any questions or concerns.

Major earthquake hits Turkey, Syria; hundreds dead, many trapped

By Mert Ozkan, Ece Toksabay and Kinda Makieh

5I3TTA2ZABKTHB5SBLNPURAHJY.jpg

People gather as rescuers search for survivors under the rubble, following an earthquake, in rebel-held town of Jandaris, Syria February 6, 2023. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

Quake strikes central Turkey, northwest Syria
Death toll at more than 900 in Turkey, about 550 in Syria - officials
Rescuers hunt for untold numbers trapped in rubble

ADANA, Turkey/DAMASCUS, Feb 6 (Reuters) - More than 1,400 people were killed and thousands injured on Monday when a huge earthquake struck central Turkey and northwest Syria, pulversing apartment blocks and heaping more destruction on Syrian cities already devastated by years of war.

The magnitude 7.8 quake, which hit in the early darkness of a winter morning, was the worst to strike Turkey this century. It was also felt in Cyprus and Lebanon. It was followed in the early afternoon by another large quake, magnitude 7.7.

It was not immediately clear how much damage had been done by the second quake, also felt across the region as rescue workers were struggling to pull casualties from rubble in bitter weather.

"We were shaken like a cradle. There were nine of us at home. Two sons of mine are still in the rubble, I'm waiting for them," said a woman with a broken arm and injuries to her face, speaking in an ambulance near the wreckage of a seven-storey block where she had lived in Diyarbakir in southeast Turkey.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said 912 people were killed, 5,383 injured, and 2,818 buildings had collapsed in Turkey.

Erdogan said he could not predict how much the death toll would rise as search and rescue efforts continued.

"Everyone is putting their heart and soul into efforts although winter season, cold weather and the earthquake happening during the night makes things more difficult," he said.

"Everyone is putting their heart and soul into efforts although winter season, cold weather and the earthquake happening during the night makes things more difficult," he said.

Live footage from Turkish state broadcaster TRT showed a building collapse in the southern province of Adana after the second quake. It was not immediately clear if the building was evacuated.

In Syria, already wrecked by more than 11 years of civil war, the health ministry said more than 326 people had been killed and 1,042 injured. In the Syrian rebel-held northwest, rescuers said 221 people had died.

In Diyarbakir, Reuters journalists saw dozens of rescue workers searching through a mound of debris, all that was left of a big building, hauling off bits of wreckage as they looked for survivors. Occasionally they raised their hands and called for quiet, listening for sounds of life.

Men carried a girl wrapped in blankets from a collapsed building in the city.

"We woke up to a big noise and severe shaking. There were two aftershocks right after that," said Meryem, 29, from the southeastern Turkish city of Kahramanmaras, near the epicentre.

"I was so scared, thought it will never stop. I took some things for my one-year old son and left the building."

Footage circulated on Twitter showed two neighbouring buildings collapsing one after the other in Syria's Aleppo, filling the street with billowing dust. Two residents of the city, which has been heavily damaged in the war, said the buildings had fallen in the hours after the quake.

LIKE THE APOCALYPSE

In the Syrian rebel-held town of Jandaris in Aleppo province, a mound of concrete, steel rods and bundles of clothes lay where a multi-storey building once stood.

"There were 12 families under there. Not a single one came out. Not one," said a thin young man, his eyes wide open in shock and his hand bandaged.

Raed Fares of the Syrian White Helmets, a rescue service in rebel-held territory known for pulling people from the ruins of buildings destroyed by air strikes, said they were in "a race against time to save the lives of those under the rubble".

Abdul Salam al Mahmoud, a Syrian in the town of Atareb, said it felt "like the apocalypse".

Syrian state television showed footage of rescue teams searching for survivors in heavy rain and sleet. President Bashar al-Assad held an emergency cabinet meeting to review the damage and discuss the next steps, his office said.

People in Damascus and in the Lebanese cities of Beirut and Tripoli ran into the street and took to their cars to get away from their buildings in fear of collapses, witnesses said.

Footage on broadcaster CNNTurk showed the historic Gaziantep Castle was severely damaged.

In the Turkish city of Malatya, a rescue worker crawled into a collapsed building, trying to identify a survivor trapped under the wreckage, in footage released by Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD).

"What colour are you wearing? Are you wearing pink? Please take care of yourself for the moment, I cannot see anything else," the rescue worker could be heard saying.

WORST QUAKE SINCE 1999

Erdogan said 45 countries had offered to help the search and rescue efforts.

The United States was "profoundly concerned" about the quake and was monitoring events closely, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Twitter. "We stand ready to provide any and all needed assistance," he said.

The U.S. Geological Survey said quake struck at a depth of 17.9 km. It reported a series of earthquakes, one of 6.7 magnitude.

The region straddles seismic fault lines.

“The combination of large magnitude and shallow depth made this earthquake extremely destructive," Mohammad Kashani, Associate Professor of Structural and Earthquake Engineering at the University of Southampton, said.

It was Turkey's most severe quake since 1999, when one of similar magnitude devastated Izmit and the heavily populated eastern Marmara Sea region near Istanbul, killing more than 17,000.

Tremors were felt in the Turkish capital of Ankara, 460 km (286 miles) northwest of the epicentre, and in Cyprus, where police reported no damage.

Major earthquake hits Turkey, Syria; hundreds dead, many trapped
 
Looks really bad… I saw videos of large buildings collapsing in cities 400km apart. I’m afraid the death toll will probably increase significantly. I’m curious to see if DART will deploy… There will be a lot of motivation for the west to provide significant help to Turkey.
 
Looks really bad… I saw videos of large buildings collapsing in cities 400km apart. I’m afraid the death toll will probably increase significantly. I’m curious to see if DART will deploy… There will be a lot of motivation for the west to provide significant help to Turkey.

EU countries are mobilizing their SAR resources... I wouldn't be surprised if we followed at some point:



More than 10 search and rescue teams from the EU have been mobilised in the wake of the major earthquake that has hit Turkey, a spokesperson for the European Commission told reporters on Monday.

"Urban Search and Rescue teams have been quickly mobilised from Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, France, Greece, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania to support the first responders on the ground," the European Commission said in a statement.

Italy, Spain and Slovakia have offered their rescue teams to Turkey as well.

The EU said it was also ready to support those affected in Syria, but said it had not yet received a request from the country to activate the EU's Civil Protection Mechanism, which coordinates assistance from EU and other European countries.


 
It never is a good news article. Incidents like this show us how no matter where you are or what side of the line you are on people are always willing to help when in need.
 
…stands ready to convene a meeting to coordinate the distribution of thoughts and prayers in an appropriately diverse manner while still being mindful of the need to assist in an emissions/carbon-neutral manner that won’t endanger the planet’s climatic future.
and sending a Transgender Minister to coordinate....
 
I heard on a podcast that the GoC dithered so long in sending DART that Turkey told Canada not to bother; everyone is now dead. But Canadian municipalities were able to get USAR teams sent there. Any truth to that?
 
I heard on a podcast that the GoC dithered so long in sending DART that Turkey told Canada not to bother; everyone is now dead. But Canadian municipalities were able to get USAR teams sent there. Any truth to that?
Which podcast?
 
Which podcast?
The Line with Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson. They aren’t known for peddling BS, but I haven’t seen that posted anywhere else.

You either have to stream it on their website, or you can download load it through the usual podcast platforms with a free subscription with just your email. Highly recommended.
 
The Line with Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson. They aren’t known for peddling BS, but I haven’t seen that posted anywhere else.

You either have to stream it on their website, or you can download load it through the usual podcast platforms with a free subscription with just your email. Highly recommended.
Ok. I have the Line but don't recall an ep about it.
 
Ok. I have the Line but don't recall an ep about it.
It was dropped late yesterday because of the Tory resignation.

They actually said that Turkey told countries to deploy no more USAR teams because anyone trapped is now dead. Matt mentioned DART and questioned why it wasn’t deployed. They both surmised that a pattern has emerged that this government is incapable of making timely decisions.
 
I heard on a podcast that the GoC dithered so long in sending DART that Turkey told Canada not to bother; everyone is now dead. But Canadian municipalities were able to get USAR teams sent there. Any truth to that?

Burnaby Urban SAR saved at least one:



Turkey says 'thanks but no thanks':

 
Back
Top