AZMARIN: A powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked southeastern Turkiye and northern Syria early Monday, toppling hundreds of buildings and killing at least 2,600 people. Hundreds were still believed to be trapped under rubble and toll was expected to rise as rescue workers searched mounds of wreckage in cities and towns across area.

On both sides of border, residents jolted out of sleep by pre-dawn quake rushed outside on cold, rainy and snowy winter night, as buildings were flattened and strong aftershocks continued.

Rescue workers and residents in multiple cities searched for survivors, working through tangles of metal and giant piles of concrete. A hospital in Turkiye collapsed and patients, including newborns, were evacuated from handful of facilities in Syria.

In Turkish city of Adana, one resident said three buildings near his home collapsed. “I don’t have strength anymore,” one survivor could be heard calling out from beneath rubble as rescue workers tried to reach him, said resident, journalism student Muhammet Fatih Yavus.

Adana witnesses said they heard one person calling for help from beneath rubble of building. “I don’t have strength to carry on,” person cried. Further east in Diyarbakir, cranes and rescue teams worked at mountain of pancaked concrete floors that was once an apartment building.

Farther east in Diyarbakir, cranes and rescue teams rushed people on stretchers out of mountain of pancaked concrete floors that was once an apartment building.

Quake felt as far away as Cairo was centered north of Gaziantep, Turkish provincial capital.

Buildings were reported collapsed in wide area extending from Syria’s cities of Aleppo and Hama to Turkiye’s Diyarbakir, more than 330 kilometers to northeast. Nearly 900 buildings were destroyed in Turkiye’s Gaziantep and Kahramanmaras provinces, said Vice President Fuat Oktay. A hospital collapsed in Mediterranean coastal city of Iskanderoun, but casualties were not immediately known, he said.

“Unfortunately, at same time, we are also struggling with extremely severe weather conditions,” Oktay told reporters. Nearly 2,800 search and rescue teams have been deployed in disaster-stricken areas, he said.

“We hope that we will get through this disaster together as soon as possible and with least damage,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote on Twitter.

Countries from Taiwan to Russia to Germany offered to send help, whether medical supplies, search teams or money.

In northwest Syria, quake added new woes to opposition-held enclave centered on province of Idlib, which has been under siege for years, with frequent Russian and government airstrikes. Territory depends on flow of aid from nearby Turkiye for everything from food to medical supplies.

Opposition’s Syrian Civil Defense described situation there as “Disastrous,” adding that entire buildings have collapsed and people are trapped under rubble.

In small Syrian rebel-held town of Azmarin in mountains by Turkish Border, bodies of several children, wrapped in blankets were brought to hospital. USGS said quake was centered about 33 kilometers from Gaziantep. It was 18 kilometers deep.

At least 912 people were killed in 10 Turkish provinces, with more than 5,400 injured, according to Turkiye’s president. Death toll in government-held areas of Syria climbed to 326 people, with some 1,000 injured, according to Health Ministry. In rebel-held areas, at least 150 people were killed, according to White Helmets, though SAMS medical organisation put toll at 106; both said hundreds were hurt.

Published in The Daily National Courier, February, 07 2023

Like Business on Facebook, follow @DailyNCourier on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.