On Monday, February 6, 2023 a 7.8-magnitude massive earthquakes hit the south of Turkey and northern Syria. It killed more than 1,300 people and triggered an emergency response.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the quake was “the biggest disaster in a century” and called for international assistance. Russia’s president Vladimir Putin offered condolences and pledged support.
Origin
On 6 February 2023, two powerful earthquakes struck Turkey and Syria, the first west of Gaziantep at 04:17 TRT (01:17 UTC) causing widespread damage. It tied with the 1939 Erzincan earthquake as the strongest quake to hit the country in recorded history, and the most devastating since 1999’s Izmit earthquake.
The earthquake triggered a series of aftershocks, including a magnitude 6.7 that hit almost 11 minutes after the main tremor in the town of Pazarcik, in the Kahramanmaras province. Turkish authorities have said that dozens of buildings collapsed in cities and towns across the region.
Many of the buildings that have reportedly flattened were apartment blocks, and rescuers were running into the rubble to get people out, according to footage from social media. In some places, entire mosques swept away, including one famous mosque in Maltaya province that dates back to the 13th century.
Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has labelled the disaster the biggest calamity since the 1939 Erzincan earthquake that killed more than 1,000 people. In a statement, the head of state called for international aid to help the victims and pledged to mobilise resources from his government as well as from foreign governments.
Meanwhile, in northern Syria, the quake killed at least 371 people and injured hundreds, the Syrian news agency Sana reported. It struck the rebel-held areas where millions of people displaced by the country’s long civil war.
It also struck areas of Idlib and Aleppo provinces where basic infrastructure has already destroyed by years of violence. The region is home to 1.7 million Syrians who have fled the conflict, living in refugee camps or in tented settlements built in olive groves along the border with Turkey.
The earthquake prompted calls from the US for immediate assistance to Turkey. In a statement, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the US was assessing options to help the most affected.
The earthquake jolted residents of the cities in southern Turkey and north western Syria awake from their sleep, levelling homes in places that have not felt an earthquake in decades. The quake felt as far south as Istanbul, the country’s largest city. It’s the worst calamity to strike the area in the past 25 years, according to the United States Geological Survey. The area has a large fault zone, which is known to be prone to earthquakes.
Epicenter
The epicenter of a 7.8-magnitude earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria early Monday, killing at least 100 people, was near the city of Gaziantep, which shares a border with Syria. It felt in the countries as well as across the Mediterranean, including Lebanon and Cyprus.
An estimated 30,000 buildings in the region have collapsed or are severely damaged. Rescue workers are attempting to find survivors.
Many trapped under rubble. Thousands of people evacuated from their homes, and many more displaced by the disaster.
Several hours after the earthquake, rescuers were beginning to uncover the extent of the devastation. Searches are ongoing in the hardest-hit areas, but it will take days before a full picture of the disaster revealed.
The US Geological Survey said the earthquake centred in Nurdagi, some 80km (50 miles) south-west of Gaziantep. It had a magnitude of 7.8 and a depth of 18km (11 miles).
Aftershocks followed quickly. The first was a 6.7-magnitude tremor in Gaziantep, followed by a quake measuring 5.6 in the city of Nurdagi.
A woman in a city called Kahramanmaras, some 60 km (40 miles) northeast of Gaziantep, said the tremor woke her whole family up in panic. She feared her son could trapped under a building.
Another woman said she was able to get out of her house in Pazarcik, some 40 km (25 miles) northeast of Gaziantep, but that she was still scared.
As she walked through the streets, she heard voices from nearby people saying they felt the tremor too. They hurried to safety in their cars or on the sidewalks.
Some people had their belongings swept off the ground and others struck by lightning. Some thrown onto the street, and some died instantly.
The quake has blamed on a fault forming between the East Anatolian Fault in southern Turkey and the North Anatolian Fault to the west. The two are part of a tectonic “freakout” that is ripping central Turkey apart.
The earthquake felt as far north as Istanbul, as well as in northern and eastern Syria. The tremor also caused power cuts in parts of the country. Internet and phone services also affected, according to web monitoring site NetBlocks.
Magnitude
A major earthquake struck Turkey and Syria on Monday, causing widespread damage in cities and towns along the countries’ shared border. The powerful 7.8-magnitude quake jolted people from their beds and sent them running outside in a snowy, rainy winter night. The quake’s death toll expected to rise as rescue workers search through the rubble of collapsed buildings in both countries.
In Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the quake killed 912 people and injured 5,385 others, describing it as “the biggest disaster in Turkish history.” He called for support from countries in the region to help with search and rescue efforts.
The quake was centered in the Elbistan region of the Kahramanmaras province, about 20 miles from Gaziantep and 60 miles from the border with Syria. It was a shallow earthquake that caused significant damage, US Geological Survey seismologist Michael Akers told reporters.
There were dozens of aftershocks after the initial quake and the USGS reported several more minor tremors. The quake was felt as far away as the eastern Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus.
On Twitter, the head of Turkey’s national emergency and disaster management authority, Fuat Oktay, said the quake was the largest in decades in the country and one of its worst since 1939. He warned of a potential threat from a tsunami.
A second earthquake of 7.6 magnitude hit southern Turkey on Monday, within 12 hours of the first deadly tremor. The quake was at a depth of 7km and had its epicenter in the Kahramanmaras province, according to AFAD.
The quake came as the region hit by a major snowstorm, which had expected to last until Thursday. Quake caused damage to structures in Turkey’s Malatya province, where more than 130 buildings collapsed, Gov. Hulusi Sahin said.
It also felt in Greece, where residents reported shaking curtains and employees rushed out of high-rise offices. Bulgaria, which has close ties to Turkey and is building a nuclear power plant in Mersin, said it was sending rescue teams to the country.
The United States and other Western nations stand ready to provide assistance in the wake of this quake, State Department spokesperson Patrick Sullivan said. Russia said it has a rescue team in the region and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered his government’s help as well.
Distance
Turkey has experienced a series of strong earthquakes in the past decade, including several major tremors that have killed hundreds. The most powerful quake in that time was the 1999 Izmit earthquake, which killed 17,000 people and left a large part of Istanbul in ruins.
Those earthquakes caused extensive damage to Turkey’s infrastructure and the country’s tourism industry. Many buildings completely destroyed in the earthquake, and a number of people reported trapped under rubble.
The quake struck near the town of Gaziantep, in southern Turkey, at 4.17 am local time, followed by a 6.7 magnitude aftershock eleven minutes later. According to the US Geological Survey, the quake centered about 33 kilometers (20 miles) from Gaziantep, and was 18 kilometers (11 miles) deep.
It was the strongest quake to hit Turkey in more than 80 years. It felt in Syria and in other parts of the Middle East, causing death and damage across the region.
Aftershocks continued to shake the region. Another quake of a much larger magnitude jolted northern Syria, causing a number of buildings to collapse. In Damascus, the quake shook buildings and people rushed to the streets in fear.
In northwest Syria, the quake added to the damage caused by recent airstrikes and government shelling. It also weakened the fragile opposition enclave of Idlib, which depends on aid from Turkey to survive.
The quake felt in Syria’s capital, Damascus, and the northern cities of Aleppo, Hama and Latakia, where buildings reported to have collapsed. It also jolted residents in Beirut, shaking their beds and prompting many to leave their homes.
A large amount of debris remained strewn across the ground after the quake, and rescue workers gathered at damaged buildings in search of survivors. Some of the rubble covered in snow and rain, making it difficult to see the wreckage.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that offers for assistance have come from 45 countries, including NATO and the European Union. He said that he expects the death toll to rise. He also noted that the winter weather and the quake occurring in the night made it difficult for rescue teams to find victims.
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