A powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked wide swaths of Turkey and Syria early Monday, toppling hundreds of buildings and killing more than 2,300 people.
The quake piled more misery on a region that has seen tremendous suffering over the past decade. On the Syrian side, the area is divided between government-held territory and the country’s last opposition-held enclave, which is surrounded by Russian-backed government forces. Turkey, meanwhile, is home to millions of refugees from the civil war.
More than 7,800 people were rescued across 10 provinces, according to Orhan Tatar, an official with Turkey’s disaster management authority.. Some 18,000 were killed in similarly powerful earthquakes that hit northwest Turkey in 1999. Thousands of buildings were reported collapsed in a wide area extending from Syria’s cities of Aleppo and Hama to Turkey’s Diyarbakir, more than 330 kilometers to the northeast.
, as well as the European Union and NATO. The vast majority were for Turkey, with Russian and even an Israeli promise of help to the Syrian government, but it was not clear if any would go to the devastated rebel-held pocket in the northwest.The opposition-held area, centered on the province of Idlib, has been under siege for years, with frequent Russian and government airstrikes. The territory depends on a flow of aid from nearby Turkey for everything from food to medical supplies.
Television stations in Turkey aired screens split into four or five, showing live coverage from rescue efforts in the worst-hit provinces. “I don’t have the strength anymore,” one survivor could be heard calling out from beneath the rubble of another building in Adana earlier in the day, as rescue workers tried to reach him, said a resident, journalism student Muhammet Fatih Yavuz.
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Earthquake Turkey: Over 2,600 dead after powerful 7.8 magnitude quake rocks Turkey, SyriaAuthorities feared the death toll would keep climbing as rescuers searched through tangles of metal and concrete for survivors in a region beset by Syria's 12-year civil war and a refugee crisis.
Read more »
Turkey earthquake live updates: At least 1,200 dead in Turkey, Syria after powerful quakeBREAKING: Several hours after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked southeastern Turkey early Monday, a powerful aftershock measuring 7.5 hit the country’s Kahramanmaras province around 1:30 p.m. local time, according to the United States Geological Survey.
Read more »
Earthquake Turkey: Over 2,300 dead after powerful 7.8 magnitude quake rocks Turkey, SyriaDEATH TOLL RISES: At least 2,300 people are confirmed dead after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Turkey and Syria. Hundreds were still believed to be trapped under rubble, and the toll was expected to rise as rescue workers searched mounds of wreckage.
Read more »
Earthquake Turkey: Over 1,300 dead after powerful quake rocks Turkey, SyriaHundreds were still believed to be trapped under rubble, and the toll was expected to rise as rescue workers searched mounds of wreckage in cities and towns across the area.
Read more »
Earthquake Turkey: Over 2,300 dead after powerful 7.8 magnitude quake rocks Turkey, SyriaHundreds were still believed to be trapped under rubble, and the toll was expected to rise as rescue workers searched mounds of wreckage in cities and towns across the area.
Read more »
Earthquake Turkey: Over 1,300 dead after powerful quake rocks Turkey, SyriaHundreds were still believed to be trapped under rubble, and the toll was expected to rise as rescue workers searched mounds of wreckage in cities and towns across the area.
Read more »