Turkey, Syria Earthquake Toll Climbs To Over 5,000
By Ron Brackett and Jan Wesner Childs
At a Glance
- The magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck early Monday in southern central Turkey north of the Syrian border.
- A second 7.5 magnitude quake struck the area Monday afternoon.
- Hundreds of people remain trapped in rubble.
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Rescuers struggled Tuesday to find survivors of a devastating magnitude 7.8 earthquake in Turkey and Syria that has left more than 5,000 people dead.
More than 24,000 people have been injured in the quake, which struck west of the city of Gaziantep in southern central Turkey, at 4:17 a.m. Monday local time or 8:17 p.m. Sunday eastern time. It has been followed by more than 200 aftershocks, including a strong 7.5 magnitude temblor.
Many people are thought to be trapped under the rubble of thousands of buildings destroyed by the quake.
“Because the debris removal efforts are continuing in many buildings in the earthquake zone, we do not know how high the number of dead and injured will rise,” Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
Racing Against Time, Cold To Find Survivors
More than 16,000 rescuers are searching for survivors of the powerful quake and now it's a “race against time and hypothermia,” to find those trapped under the debris, Mikdat Kadioglu, a professor of meteorology and disaster management at the Istanbul Technical University, told the New York Times.
The weather in the region where the quake struck is expected to be dry the rest of the week, but it will be cold with below average temperatures. Highs will run near the upper 30s or lower 40s and lows will be in the 20s.
Lody Korua, a search and rescue expert in Indonesia, told the Times the first to third day after an earthquake is usually the “golden period” for saving lives.
“The people we’re rescuing are injured — they are under rubble, and we don’t know how deep down under,” he said. “They are stuck, maybe with their legs crushed by the collapsed structure, with broken bones, and they can’t cry for help.”
Tens Of Thousands Left Homeless
The tremors have caused about 6,000 buildings in Turkey to collapse, and at least 150,000 people have been left homeless, Ruben Cano, an official with the International Federation of the Red Cross told reporters in Geneva.
“This earthquake caused unfathomable damage. Our worst fear is coming true. In this response, every minute counts,” said Xavier Castellanos, IFRC Under Secretary General for National Society Development and Operations Coordination. “The vulnerabilities are coupled on top of harsh winter conditions, making it unbearable for many."
(MORE: How To Help Earthquake Victims In Turkey, Syria)
Week Of Mourning Declared In Turkey
Erdogan declared seven days of national mourning, with Turkish flags flying at half staff.
The latest estimate as of 1:30 p.m. ET was that 3,000 buildings were destroyed in Turkey.
2,000-Year-Old Castle Destroyed
Walls and watch towers were leveled at Gaziantep Castle and other parts of the structure heavily damaged.
The castle dates back to Roman times and is a popular tourist and historic attraction.
Pledges Of Foreign Aid Pour In
Support, including search and rescue personnel, is flooding in as the death toll continues to rise. Ten European Union nations are sending search and rescue teams. Those include personnel, dogs and vehicles, among other assets, according to The Associated Press. Japan is sending 75 personnel.
President Joe Biden tweeted that he has directed his team to "provide any and all needed assistance."
In all, at least 40 countries have pledged to help.
International groups including the World Health Organization are helping coordinate relief efforts.
Photos Show Devastation
Photos are beginning to show the scope of the damage. People can be seen searching through the rubble, buildings flattened and stunned survivors in the streets.
Second Powerful Quake, At Least 30 Aftershocks Shake Region
Another powerful earthquake struck less than 12 hours after the first quake. The magnitude 7.5 quake struck at 1:24 p.m. Monday (5:24 a.m. ET). The epicenter was about 60 miles northeast of the site of the earlier 7.8 magnitude earthquake.
The second strong temblor was one of more than 30 aftershocks felt since the first earthquake. The first tremor shook buildings as far away as Israel, and people in Lebanon were jolted from their beds.
Thousands Of People Injured
Reports say nearly 7,000 people have been injured in Turkey and Syria. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said 5,385 have been hurt in his country.
More than 900 buildings were destroyed in the Turkish provinces of Gaziantep and Kahramanmaras, Vice President Fuat Oktay said. A hospital collapsed in the Mediterranean coastal city of Iskanderoun, he said.
(WATCH: Moment Turkey Earthquake Triggers Building Collapse)
“Unfortunately, at the same time, we are also struggling with extremely severe weather conditions,” Oktay told reporters.
'It's Very Cold ... Everyone Is On The Streets'
Rain, snow and temperatures in the 30s are expected to hamper rescue efforts. When the current weather system departs Turkey by tomorrow, it should be drier. However, colder than average temperatures will continue to grip the country much of this week.
“There are so many buildings that have been damaged. People are on the streets. It’s raining, it’s winter,” Huseyin Yayman, a legislator from Turkey's Hatay province, told HaberTurk television by telephone.
"It's very cold and it's snowing right now," Özgül Konakçı, who lives in Malatya, told BBC Turkish. "Everyone is on the streets, people are confused about what to do. Just before our eyes, the windows of a building exploded due to aftershocks."
"Some people wanted to go back to their houses because it was too cold," Konakçı said. "But then we felt strong aftershocks and they were out again."
Nearly 3,000 Buildings Collapse In Turkey
President Erdogan said the earthquake caused 2,800 buildings in Turkey to collapse. He said more than 2,400 people have been pulled from the rubble.
Nilüfer Aslan and his family were asleep in their fifth-floor apartment in Adana when the quake struck early Monday.
"I have never seen anything like this in my life. We swayed for close to one minute," he told the BBC.
"(I said to my family) 'There is an earthquake, at least let's die together in the same place'... It was the only thing that crossed my mind."
Once outside, the family saw that four buildings surrounding theirs had collapsed.
A journalist with The Turkish Press tweeted a photo from Hatay that showed several multistory buildings collapsed.
Hospitals Overwhelmed In Syria
The situation is equally dire across the border in Syria, which has seen a decade of civil war. Some areas affected by the quake are controlled by the Syrian government and others are under the control of opposition forces.
Hundreds of families are trapped in the rubble of apartments crowded with refugees from other parts of the country, according to the White Hats, the opposition emergency organization.
"Our hospitals are overwhelmed with patients filling the hallways," the Syrian American Medical Society said in a release.
Video and photos from the region show entire buildings reduced to chunks of concrete.
Turkey Sits On One Of World's Most Active Fault Systems
Monday's magnitude 7.8 earthquake was as powerful as one in 1939, the strongest quake on record in Turkey.
That quake in December 1939 was in northeast Turkey, close to the North Anatolian Fault, according to a tweet from Stephen Hicks, a research fellow in seismology at Imperial College London. It killed more than 30,000 people.
In August 1999, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck near Izmit in northwest Turkey. Nearly 18,000 people were killed in that quake.
The Anatolian fault system is one of the most active in the world. Turkey sits on the Anatolian Plate, which grinds against Eurasia in the north. The North Anatolian fault crosses the country from west to east and the East Anatolian fault is in the country’s southeastern region. In eastern Turkey, the Arabian Plate thrusts under the Anatolian Plate. The African Plate is subducting beneath central and western Turkey.
Dozens of countries have offered help, including search-and-rescue teams, medical supplies and money.
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