Video clips showed part of the damage caused by the strong earthquake that struck at dawn today, Monday, in southern Turkey and northern Syria, and was felt by the residents of a number of countries in the region.
The clips circulated by Turkish and Syrian activists and media on the communication sites show demolished buildings and wrecked cars in a number of Turkish states and in areas in northern Syria as a result of the earthquake, as well as rescue operations racing against time in search of survivors still stuck under the rubble.
Gaziantep Fidanlık mahallesinde yıkılan bir binada, arama kurtarma çalışmaları devam ediyor.#Deprem pic.twitter.com/Wl9TvwTcFm
— EHA MEDYA (@eha_medya) February 6, 2023
Hundreds of people were killed and injured in Syria and Turkey as a result of the earthquake, and the Turkish authorities raised the alert status to the fourth level, which is a level that includes the request for international assistance.
The Turkish Emergency and Disaster Management said that an earthquake measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale struck the Pazardik district of Kahramanmaraş state (southern Turkey), at a depth of 7 km at dawn today, while the American Institute of Seismology reported that the strength of the main tremor reached 7.8 degrees.
Diyarbakır'da yıkılan bir binada arama kurtarma çalışmaları yapılıyor.
pic.twitter.com/WEbTnrZeA9
— TRT HABER (@trthaber) February 6, 2023
According to Agence France-Presse, this earthquake is the largest in Turkey since the August 1999 earthquake, which killed 17,000 people, including 1,000 in Istanbul.
Yetkilere ulaşalım insanlar canlı sesler geliyor #Diyarbakır@dbakirvalilik
5 Nisan mahallesi Namık Kemal liesi karşısı kelebek parkı karşısı bina yıkılmış.
Ambulans yok, itfaiye yok.
pic.twitter.com/DfljbxVwpa
- Mustafa YOLDAŞ (@K_ArayanAdm) February 6, 2023
The Turkish Disaster Management Authority stated that the earthquake and strong aftershocks in southern Turkey killed 77 people and injured 440 others.
Güzelyalı mahallesinde yıkılan bir binayı mahalle muhtarı sosyal medya hesabından paylaştı.. Allah hepimizin yardımcısı olsun🙏 pic.twitter.com/LYHMb2uoQs
— Adanacity (@bizadanaliyik) February 6, 2023
In Syria, the earthquake struck the governorates of Aleppo, Idlib, Latakia and Hama, and the Syrian Civil Defense located in the opposition areas in the northwest of the country said that at least 86 people had died, and declared the areas affected by the earthquake "stricken".
While the Syrian Ministry of Health announced that the number of earthquake victims reached 237 dead and 639 injured.
Trapped people were pulled out from under the rubble in the #Afrin area in the northern countryside of #Aleppo, after the earthquake that struck the area at dawn today, Monday, February 6, leaving dozens dead and hundreds injured and trapped.# The White Helmets
#Syria_earthquake #Syria pic.twitter.com/sBZqlKWtse
- Syrian Civil Defense (@SyriaCivilDefe) February 6, 2023
The earthquake was also felt by residents in Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Greece, Cyprus, Armenia, Georgia, Iraq and some areas in Egypt.