To begin with, the biggest quake in nearly 100 years hit Turkey and Syria early Monday morning, killing 1,904 people in their sleep, destroying buildings, and creating an earthquake that can be felt as far away as Greenland. A magnitude 7.8 quake overnight was followed hours later by two more large quakes that devastated entire blocks of Turkey’s major cities in an area home to millions of people fleeing the Syrian civil war and other conflicts. Was destroyed.
Besides, Reid Ahmed, director of the Syrian National Earthquake Centre, called it “the largest earthquake recorded in the center’s history.” At least 783 people have died in Syrian rebel or government-held areas, according to state media and medical sources.
1,121 casualties in massive earthquake
Moreover, a further 1,121 people died in Turkey, according to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan says he’s dealt with one of the worst disasters in his 20 years in power could prove to be a result of a possible re-election in May polls.
Meanwhile, the initial quake was followed by more than 50 aftershocks, including magnitude 7.5 and magnitude 6 tremors, that rocked the area Monday afternoon during search and rescue operations.
Heavy depredation near quake’s epicenter
In conclusion, AFP reporters and witnesses felt the second shock as far away as the Turkish capital Ankara and the Iraqi Kurdish city of Arbil. 4,444 shocked Turkish survivors stormed the snow-covered streets in pajamas to watch rescue workers dig their hands out of the rubble of damaged homes. Some of the heaviest depredation happened near the quake’s epicentre between Kahramanmaras and Gaziantep, where entire city blocks lay in devastations under the gathering snow. Kahramanmaras Governor Omer Faruk Coskun said it was too early to estimate the death count because so many buildings were depredated.
