An earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale killed more than 500 people in Turkey and Syria.
Rescuers and residents desperately search for survivors under the rubble of collapsed buildings in several towns on both sides of the border.
According to the authorities of each country, the death toll in Turkey has risen to 284, while Syria has recorded 237 deaths.
Thousands more were injured in an earthquake that struck north of the Turkish city of Gaziantep, about 90 kilometers from the Syrian border. Tremors were felt even in Cairo and Lebanon.
The quake-hit part of Syria is divided into areas held by the government and the opposition, with the latter surrounded by Russian-backed government forces.
Hundreds more are reported to have died in opposition-controlled areas, where some 4 million Syrians have been displaced from other parts of the country as a result of the long civil war.
“We fear the death toll could be in the hundreds,” the doctor said. Muhib Kaddour told The Associated Press from the city of Atmeh, referring to the rebel-held Northwest. “We’re under a lot of pressure.”
The civil defense of the Syrian opposition described the situation there as “catastrophic”. Entire buildings collapsed and people were trapped under rubble.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Twitter that “search and rescue teams were immediately sent to the areas affected by the earthquake.”
“We hope that together we can get through this disaster as quickly and safely as possible,” he wrote.
Syrian state media reported that some buildings collapsed in the northern city of Aleppo and the central city of Hama.
Some experts believe that the earthquake could be the strongest in Turkey’s history.
Stephen Hicks, a seismologist at University College London, said the strongest earthquake to date occurred in 1939 and also had a magnitude of 7.8. More than 30,000 people died.
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Source: I News
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