More than 1,300 people were killed after a strong earthquake struck Turkey and Syria

A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck large areas of Turkey and Syria early Monday, toppling hundreds of buildings and killing more than 1,300 people. Hundreds are believed to be still trapped under the rubble, and the death toll is expected to rise as rescue workers sift through piles of debris in cities and towns across the region.

On both sides of the border, residents were roused from their sleep by the pre-dawn earthquake and rushed outside on a cold, rainy and snowy night. Buildings were reduced to piles of flat floors, while major aftershocks, almost as strong as the first, continued.

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Rescue workers and residents in several cities searched for survivors, working through tangles of metal and concrete. A hospital in Turkey has collapsed, and patients including newborns have been evacuated from facilities in Syria.

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In the Turkish city of Adana, a resident said that three buildings near his house collapsed. “I don’t have the strength anymore,” said one of the residents, journalism student Mohamed Fatih Yavous. One survivor could be heard calling out from the rubble as rescue workers tried to reach him.

“Because efforts to remove rubble are continuing in many buildings in the earthquake zone, we do not know how high the number of dead and injured is,” said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “We hope that we will recover from this disaster with the least possible loss of life.”

The epicenter of the earthquake, which was felt as far away as Cairo, was north of Gaziantep, the capital of a Turkish province.

It hit an area formed on both sides of the border by more than a decade of civil war in Syria. On the Syrian side, the affected area is divided between government-held territory and the last opposition-held enclave in the country, surrounded by Russian-backed government forces. Meanwhile, Turkey is home to millions of refugees from this conflict.

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Opposition-held areas of Syria are teeming with about 4 million people who have been displaced from other parts of the country by the fighting. Many of them live in buildings already destroyed by bombing in the past. The opposition emergency organisation, the White Helmets, said in a statement that hundreds of families were still trapped under the rubble.

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Rescue workers said overwhelmed health facilities and hospitals were quickly filling up with the wounded. And according to medical organization SAMS, others have been emptied, including the maternity hospital.

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The area sits on top of major fault lines and is frequently shaken by earthquakes. About 18,000 people were killed in a similarly strong earthquake that struck northwest Turkey in 1999. The US Geological Survey measured Monday’s quake at a magnitude of 7.8. Authorities said at least 20 aftershocks followed, including 7.5 aftershocks.

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There were reports of building collapses in a wide area stretching from the cities of Aleppo and Hama in Syria to Diyarbakir in Turkey, more than 330 kilometers (200 miles) to the northeast. Erdogan said that nearly 3,000 buildings collapsed in Turkey. A hospital in the Mediterranean city of Iskenderun collapsed, Fuat Oktay, his deputy, said, but the number of casualties was not immediately known.

Offers of help – from search and rescue teams to medical supplies and money – poured in from dozens of countries, as well as the European Union and NATO.

In Turkey, people trying to leave earthquake-stricken areas have caused traffic jams, hampering the efforts of emergency teams trying to reach the affected areas. The authorities urged residents not to walk on the roads. Mosques were opened across the region to provide shelter for people unable to return to their damaged homes amid temperatures that were approaching freezing.

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People try to reach residents trapped inside collapsed buildings in Diyarbakir, southern Turkey, early Monday, Feb. 6, 2023. Depo Photos via AP

The earthquake badly damaged Gaziantep’s most famous landmark, its historic castle perched on top of a hill in the city center. Pictures from the city showed that parts of the castle walls and watch towers were flattened, and other parts were severely damaged.

In Diyarbakir, hundreds of rescue workers and civilians formed lines across a mountain of debris, moving broken pieces of concrete, household belongings and other rubble as they searched for trapped survivors while excavators dug through the rubble below.

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In northwest Syria, the earthquake has added new woes to the opposition-held enclave centered in Idlib province, which has been besieged for years, with repeated Russian and government air strikes. The region depends on aid flows from neighboring Turkey for everything from food to medical supplies.

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The opposition Syrian Civil Defense described the situation there as “catastrophic”.

In the small Syrian rebel-held town of Azmarin in the mountains on the Turkish border, the bodies of many dead children, wrapped in blankets, have been brought to hospital.

The General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums in Sira said the quake caused some damage to the Crusaders’ Mirqab, or Watchtower Castle, on a hill overlooking the Mediterranean. Part of the tower and some walls collapsed.

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The US Geological Survey said the quake’s epicenter was 33 kilometers (20 miles) from Gaziantep. It was 18 kilometers (11 miles) deep.

More than 900 people have been killed in 10 Turkish provinces, and more than 5,400 have been injured, according to the Turkish president. The death toll in government-held areas of Syria has risen to more than 330, with nearly 1,000 injured, according to the Health Ministry. In rebel-held areas, more than 200 people have been killed, according to the White Helmets, although medical organization SAMS put the death toll at more than 135; Both said hundreds were injured.

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Buildings shook in Damascus and many people took to the streets in fear. The earthquake shook the residents of Lebanon off their beds and shook buildings for 40 seconds. Many Beirutis left their homes and took to the streets or drove their cars away from buildings, frightened by memories of the 2020 port explosion that devastated much of the city.

Hussein Yaman, a representative of the Turkish state of Hatay, said that many of his family members are stuck under the rubble of their collapsed homes.

“There are a lot of other people who are also trapped,” he told HaberTurk TV by phone. There are many buildings damaged. people in the streets. It’s raining, it’s winter.”

Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey. Associated Press writers Basem Marwa and Karim Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report.

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