Turkey and Syria hit by strong earthquake, more than a thousand dead

Feb 06, 2023 at 05:15 Update: 4 minutes ago

Turkey and Syria were startled on Sunday night by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake. Local disaster authorities and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan report that more than 1,200 people have died. Some 6,500 others were injured.

Follow the latest developments regarding the earthquake in Turkey and Syria in our live blog

The earthquake occurred at 4:17 am (local time). The epicenter of the quake was 26 kilometers northwest of the Turkish city of Gaziantep, not far from the border with Syria. The US Geological Survey USGS registered an aftershock with a magnitude of 6.7 fifteen minutes after the quake.

The countries report that dozens of buildings have collapsed. And there would still be people under the rubble. The number of victims is likely to rise.

Residents of Cyprus, Israel, Syria and Lebanon, among others, report on social media that they too have felt the quake. A tsunami warning was issued on the east coast of Italy before 6:30 a.m. because of the quake. But that warning was later withdrawn because the wave was only 15 centimeters high, writes La Repubblica.

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Erdogan addresses people, US offers help

Erdogan addressed the Turkish people via Twitter on Monday morning. He wished the affected people strength and said that rescuers are on their way to the area. “We hope that together we will overcome this disaster as quickly as possible and with as little damage as possible. We will continue to work.” The president suspects that the death toll will continue to rise.

The United States has also responded. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan says the country is “deeply concerned” after the “devastating earthquake”. The US is going to help the affected areas, but it is not yet clear in what way.

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