TURKEY-SYRIA EARTHQUAKE: Three big earthquakes – of 7.8, 7.6 and 6.0 magnitude – hit Turkey today killing more than 1700 people .The deaths and destruction are in Turkey and neighbouring Syria. The last two earthquakes hit hours after the first killer temblor of 7.8 magnitude.
The epicentre of the first quake was in Gaziantep, about 90 kilometres from the Syrian border. This is the region which houses millions of refugees from the Syrian civil war. The quake was felt as far away as Cairo.
The quake, felt as far away as Cairo, was centred north of the city of Gaziantep about 90 kilometres (60 miles) from the Syrian border. Along with several cities, the area is home to home to millions of Syrian refugees who fled their country’s long-running civil war. Turkey, which borders Syria to the north, hosts the largest number of Syrian refugees in the world. On the Syrian side of the border, the quake smashed opposition-held regions that are packed with several million displaced Syrians with a decrepit health care system after years of war.
There were at least 6 aftershocks, and Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu urged people not to enter damaged buildings due to the risks. “Our priority is to bring out people trapped under ruined buildings and to transfer them to hospitals,” he said. Syria’s state media reported that some buildings collapsed in the northern city of Aleppo and the central city of Hama. In Damascus, buildings shook and many people went down to the streets in fear. The quake jolted residents in Lebanon from their beds, shaking buildings for about 40 seconds. Meanwhile, Syrian civil defence operating in rebel-held areas said on Monday that a powerful earthquake that struck Turkey and northern Syria had left “tens of victims and people stuck under rubble” of collapsed buildings in the country’s north-west, Reuters reported.
Third quake hits Turkey within 18 hours
A third quake, this time of magnitude 6, hit Turkey within a span of 18 hours.Meanwhile, the death toll in Turkey and Syria has mounted to 1,700. “I think we can expect the death toll to increase significantly,” Rick Brennan, the WHO’s regional emergency director for the Eastern Mediterranean, told Reuters. “There’s been a lot of building collapses and it will increase more significantly around the epicentre of the earthquake.” turkey syria earthquake
Comments
Post a Comment