Alexandra Jaegy with AFP
modified to
12:30 p.m., February 06, 2023
A new earthquake, measuring 7.5, struck southeastern Turkey on Monday, the American seismological institute USGS reported, hours after a first quake killed nearly 1,500 people in Turkey and Syria. . The earthquake occurred at 10:24 GMT, 4 km southeast of the Turkish town of Ekinozu, the American institute said.
Death toll exceeds 1,400
The death toll from the violent earthquake that struck southeastern Turkey on Monday has risen to 912 dead and at least 5,385 injured, according to data released by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. According to him, 2,818 buildings have collapsed, raising fears of even heavier tolls in addition to the hundreds of deaths in neighboring Syria.
On the other side of the border, the disaster killed at least 560 people and injured 988 on Monday in northern Syria, according to provisional reports communicated by state media and rescuers in the rebel zone. According to Syrian television, 239 people were killed in the collapse of homes and 648 injured in several cities including Aleppo (north), Syria’s second city. Victims have also been identified in Hama (center) as well as Latakia and Tartous, on the Mediterranean coast.
“Hundreds of families still under the rubble”
A previous toll reported 237 dead in areas under Syrian regime control. In the regions held by the rebels, close to Turkey, it is the White Helmets, rescue workers who are mobilizing in these areas, who have identified the number of victims.
“147 civilians are dead and more than 340 injured according to a provisional report, in the province of Idleb and the surroundings of Aleppo”, in the north of the country, announced the White Helmets on Twitter, adding to expect a ” significant increase” in the number of victims, “hundreds of families still under the rubble”. In a statement, the White Helmets declared these regions “disaster” and called on international humanitarian organizations to “intervene quickly” to help the local population.
The earthquake caused scenes of panic in the north of Syria where the inhabitants rushed outside, on foot or by car, despite the torrential rains, as well as in neighboring Lebanon where the tremors were strongly felt.
Call for international help
Faced with the earthquake, Turkey calls on the international community for help. “All our teams are on alert. We have issued a level four alarm. This is a call, including for international help,” Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu told the Haberturk channel. “Our teams are on high alert to rescue survivors,” the Syrian White Helmets, rescuers engaged in rebel areas in Syria, also said on Twitter. 50 aftershocks were recorded in Turkey, according to Afad.
The governor of Gaziantep province called on residents to gather outside despite the cold, while the head of Diyanet, the Turkish public body responsible for supervising worship, called on Turks in need to find refuge in mosques.
Turkish rescuers and civil defense as well as Syrian firefighters were at work Monday morning to try to extract possible victims from the rubble, according to local media. Turkey is located on one of the most active seismic zones in the world.
At the end of November, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck northwestern Turkey, injuring around 50 people and causing limited damage, according to the Turkish emergency services. In January 2020, a magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck the provinces of Elazig and Malatya (East), killing more than 40 people. In October of the same year, a magnitude 7 earthquake in the Aegean Sea killed 114 people and injured more than 1,000 in Turkey.