More than 3,000 people have died in Turkey and Syria, and thousands more are missing or injured in a massive earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale.
Thousands of rescuers and local residents search for survivors under the rubble of collapsed buildings in several cities on both sides of the border after the historic disaster occurred at 4:17 am local time on Monday.
Late Monday evening, the death toll in Turkey topped 1,700, with about 1,300 deaths in Syria. More than 200 people have been killed in rebel-controlled areas in Syria, according to aid workers. The death toll is expected to rise across all sectors as rescue operations continue.
Thousands more were injured in an earthquake that struck north of the Turkish city of Gaziantep, about 90 kilometers from the Syrian border. Earthquakes were felt in the Middle East. The earthquake destroyed thousands of buildings and 10 cities were affected on the Turkish side alone. A second major earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale was recorded in the Kahramanmaras region of southeastern Turkey at 13:24 local time on Monday, although it was not clear if this was a separate event or an aftershock.
The UK has sent emergency humanitarian aid to the Turkish government and UN teams working in Syria. The government does not rule out direct contact with Bashar al-Assad’s regime for the first time in more than a decade, in case he turns to Britain for help.
A search and rescue team of 76 workers and four dogs was sent to the disaster area, along with several British paramedics. NO. 10 said it would consider increasing the assistance offered in the coming days if necessary.
The affected region of Syria is divided between government and opposition territory due to the civil war that has raged since 2011, with the rebel area surrounded by Russian-backed government forces.
Britain has not maintained diplomatic relations with Syria since it refused to recognize its dictator Assad during the Arab Spring, when he plunged the country into civil war. A UK government source said it was “highly unlikely” he would ask for help, but another source added that there would be no “redline” in this case.
Secretary of State James Cleverly said getting aid to Syria was “difficult,” adding: “We are working through our UN partners on the ground.”
De Witte Helmen volunteer rescuers operating in opposition areas described: “Hundreds of dead, wounded, stuck under rubble or stranded in the winter cold. Houses, buildings and residential areas were completely destroyed.”
Dramatic footage from northwestern Syria shows rescuers pulling a bloodied infant from the rubble of a building before taking him to treatment.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the earthquake the worst disaster to hit the country since the 1939 Erinzkan earthquake that killed more than 30,000 people.
“We hope that together we can overcome this disaster as quickly as possible and with minimal damage,” he said.
Seismologists suspected that this earthquake was one of the strongest ever to hit Turkey, with a magnitude comparable to the 1939 disaster.
Several aftershocks have been reported. Dr. Haluk Ozener, director of the Kandilli Observatory and Institute for Earthquake Research, said there were more than 100 after the first impact.
“About 53 of them are above 4 (on the Richter scale),” he told the BBC. “In the future, the number will increase as the smaller aftershocks subside… One could say that these earthquakes will continue over the next few days, decreasing in intensity. These earthquakes can last up to a year.”
The Turkish army has built an air corridor to allow aid workers to reach the quake-hit area, but officials said heavy rains and freezing temperatures are hindering work.
President Erdogan said 45 countries have offered assistance, while the EU and the UN have also mobilized emergency teams.
Jill Morris, appointed British Ambassador to Turkey, said: “The British Embassy in Ankara is in close contact with the Turkish authorities to understand how best to support the local population.”
Source: I News
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