DIYARBAKIR/ANKARA: More than 50 people were killed in southern Turkey on Monday by a major earthquake of magnitude 7.9, which was felt in Cyprus, Lebanon, and Syria. It toppled dozens of buildings and sparked a search for survivors beneath the rubble in snowy streets.
While announcing a “level 4 alarm” that calls for international assistance, Turkish authorities sent rescue teams and supply aircraft to the area surrounding the city of Kahramanmaras.
At least 23 people died in Turkey’s Malatya province, 17 in Sanliurfa, six in Diyarbakir, and five more in Osmaniye, according to early statements from officials. Syrian state media reported 42 deaths south of the border.
“I have never felt anything like it in the 40 years I’ve lived,” said Erdem, who declined to provide his name but lives in the Turkish city of Gaziantep, near the epicenter of the quake.
“We were shaken very strongly, at least three times, like a baby in a crib.”
He added that it was still too dark to determine the nature of the damage.
He stated via telephone, “Everyone is sitting in their cars or trying to drive to open spaces away from buildings.” I don’t think anyone in Gaziantep is currently at home.
According to a Reuters witness in Diyarbakir, 350 kilometers (218 miles) to the east, where a security official stated that at least 17 buildings collapsed, the tremor lasted about a minute and shattered windows.
According to authorities in the area, 34 structures collapsed in Osmaniye and 16 in Sanliurfa.
In Kahramanmaras, it was still dark, and broadcasters TRT and Haberturk showed footage of people moving stretchers, searching through building wreckage, and looking for survivors.
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told reporters, “Our primary job is to carry out the search and rescue work, and to do that, all our teams are on alert.”
The EMSC monitoring service stated that it was evaluating the possibility of a tsunami, while the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) stated that the quake occurred at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles).
Following the initial tremor, the US Geological Survey (USGS) reported a series of additional earthquakes with a magnitude of 7.8. There was a 6.7-magnitude quake in Gaziantep and a 5.6-magnitude quake in the Nurdag neighborhood of the city.
Near Kahramanmaras and the larger city of Gaziantep, close to the Syrian border, Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) estimated the magnitude to be 7.4.
A source in the Hama civil service claimed that several buildings had collapsed in the province of Aleppo, while the Syrian state media reported that a significant number of buildings had collapsed there.
Samer, a Damascus resident, stated, “Paintings fell off the walls in the house.” I awoke in terror. We are all now dressed and waiting at the door.
Witnesses reported that residents of Damascus, Lebanon’s Beirut and Tripoli, and Lebanon’s Tripoli fled into the street and into their cars in case their buildings collapsed.
In addition, overnight, tremors were felt in Ankara, which is 460 kilometers (286 miles) northwest of the epicenter, as well as in Cyprus, where police reported no damage.
Strong earthquakes frequently strike the area.
“We were concerned when the earthquake struck. “There is serious widespread damage,” the head of the Turkish Red Crescent relief organization, Kerem Kinik, told Haberturk, urging blood donations.
