China News Service, February 6th reported that two strong earthquakes with a magnitude of 7.8 occurred in southern Turkey on the 6th, killing at least 1,500 people in Turkey and Syria and injuring thousands.
Mass evacuations have begun in eastern Syria's Aleppo province amid the threat of a new earthquake.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a televised speech on the 6th that at least 912 people in Turkey were killed and 5,385 were injured in the earthquake.
Rescuers were searching for survivors among the rubble of collapsed buildings, while NATO, the European Union and 45 countries offered aid in the aftermath of the disaster.
The Turkish parliament also suspended work for a week due to the earthquake.
In addition, in Syria, at least 592 people were killed, most of them in the Aleppo, Hama, Latakia and Tartus regions, and 1,089 others were injured, according to the Syrian state news agency.
The Syrian Oil Ministry said on the 6th that due to equipment damage caused by a strong earthquake, Syria's largest oil refinery in the city of Baniyas has suspended operations.
According to the official measurement of the China Seismic Network, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 occurred in Turkey (37.15 degrees north latitude, 36.95 degrees east longitude) at 9:17 on February 6, with a focal depth of 20 kilometers.
At 18:24 on the 6th, another earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 occurred in Turkey (38.00 degrees north latitude, 37.15 degrees east longitude), with a focal depth of 20 kilometers.