The Turkish Emergency and Disaster Management Department said that an earthquake measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale struck the Pazardik district of Kahramanmaraş province in southern Turkey, at a depth of 7 kilometers at dawn today, Monday.
The Earthquake Authority stated that aftershocks are still occurring in the region, and that this earthquake was felt by residents of the provinces in southern Turkey and cities in northern Syria.
The Turkish Interior Minister said that the ministry's crews are running the rescue operation in the quake-stricken area in the south of the country, which is subject to aftershocks.
Turkish media, quoting local sources, reported that a large number of buildings were destroyed by the earthquake, and that search and rescue teams began their work in the quake-hit areas.
The German Center for Geosciences Research said that a 7.7-magnitude earthquake shook central Turkey early Monday morning, adding that the quake occurred at a depth of 10 kilometers.