Turkey's earthquake death toll has reached 40,642, said Yunus Sezer, head of Turkey's Emergency Management Office.

According to the agency, 108,068 people were affected by the disaster.

At the same time, more than 430 thousand residents of the republic managed to be taken out of the areas affected by the earthquake.

Sezer also said that most of the search and rescue work is planned to be completed by the evening of February 19.

Recall, on February 6, two earthquakes of magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 occurred in Turkey.

The epicenter of the tremors was the province of Kahramanmarash.

Each earthquake was accompanied by aftershocks, from which neighboring provinces suffered.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared seven days of national mourning in the country.

Among the dead there are citizens of Russia.

So, on February 12, it became known about the death of a seventh grader from Ryazan and his mother.

According to the school, the child was in Turkey for treatment.

At the same time, on the 13th day after the earthquakes in Turkey, they continue to find survivors.

So, according to the Anadolu agency, on February 18, in the city of Antakya in the province of Hatay, a married couple with a 12-year-old child was rescued from the rubble, who, despite the efforts of doctors, subsequently died.

  • Consequences of earthquakes in Syria

  • © Anas Alkharboutli/dpa

In addition to Turkey, seismic activity was also recorded in Syria.

On February 16, Rear Admiral Oleg Gurinov, Deputy Head of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties in the SAR, citing the Ministry of Health of the Arab Republic, said that 3,513 people were killed in government-controlled territories, and 7,396 Syrians were injured.

As a result of tremors, more than 1,520 buildings were destroyed, of which 611 were completely destroyed.

More than 45 thousand people were left homeless.

WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge said the earthquakes that hit central Turkey and northwestern Syria in early February were the worst natural disaster in the European Region in a century.

Help from Russia

Russia took an active part in the aftermath of the natural disaster in Turkey and Syria.

Aircraft of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, at the direction of Russian President Vladimir Putin, were sent to the affected countries on February 6.

  • Russian rescuers in Turkey

  • globallookpress.com

  • © Komsomolskaya Pravda

To search for people under the rubble, the department’s specialists used endoscopes, ground penetrating radars and thermal imagers, as well as acoustic search devices that make it possible to detect a person under a pile of construction debris at a depth of up to 4.5 m.

In addition, Russian rescuers used drones to inspect buildings and reconnoiter the rubble.

Cynologists also worked in the disaster zone.

In addition, the Ministry of Emergency Situations deployed mobile hospitals in both countries to provide medical care to the victims.

The total number of the Russian group of rescuers in the two countries exceeded 200 people.

In addition, the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation coordinated the work of more than 130 rescuers from Kyrgyzstan and Belarus.

For the entire period of work, doctors of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation provided assistance to 900 victims, including 240 children.

In Turkey, about 740 cubic meters were dismantled by hand.

m of rubble.

Another 8.4 thousand cubic meters.

m - with the use of heavy engineering equipment.

To extinguish fires in the Turkish seaport of Iskenderun, the Be-200ChS aircraft performed 73 discharges and dropped 680 tons of water.

In Syria, 750 sq.

m of rubble.

Specialists of the Ministry of Emergency Situations also took out 5.6 thousand cubic meters.

m of construction debris.  

In addition, by Il-76 aircraft, Russia delivered 70 tons of humanitarian cargo to Syria and 36 tons of aid to Turkey.

On February 14, the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation Alexander Kurenkov announced the completion of rescue operations in Turkey and Syria.

“Russia was one of the first countries to come to the aid of the affected population.

Our rescuers began to search for survivors in the most difficult areas.

Heavy machinery has been brought in to remove the rubble.

The search and rescue operation is now over.

In this regard, the president made a decision to withdraw the group,” Kurenkov said.