More than 600 people are reported to have been killed in Turkey and Syria as an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 caused largescale devastations in both countries.
Turkish vice president, Fuat Oktay, told reporters that the death toll in his country stood at 284, with more than 2,000 people injured.
According to Oktay, 70 people were killed in the province of Kahramanmaras, the epicentre of the earthquake. He added that 20 people were killed in Osmaniye, 18 in Sanliurfa, 14 in Diyarbakir and 13 in Adiyaman.
The Turkish government has declared a state of emergency in the country. People have been urged to not use mobile phones to allow rescuers to co-ordinate, reported the BBC.
Millions of people across Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Cyprus and Israel felt the tremors as 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck in the early hours of Monday.
One eyewitness, Samer, told the news agency Reuters in the Syrian capital Damascus, “Paintings fell off the walls in the house. I woke up terrified. Now we’re all dressed and standing at the door.”
In the Turkish city of Gaziantep, another resident said, “I have never felt anything like it in the 40 years I’ve lived,” he told Reuters over the phone.
“Everybody is sitting in their cars, or trying to drive to open spaces away from buildings.”
“I imagine not a single person in Gaziantep is in their homes now.”
Social media platforms have been flooded with dramatric videos of the earthquake.
Turkey💔 #Turkey #amed #earthquake #Earthquake pic.twitter.com/qVwPXft9Hu
— Ismail Rojbayani (@ismailrojbayani) February 6, 2023
In the aftershock that just occurred in #Şanlıurfa, Bahçelievler Neighborhood, buildings #collapsed!#deprem #Idlib #Syria #DEPREMOLDU #Turkey #Earthquake pic.twitter.com/FsQQvrNcqs
— Chaudhary Parvez (@ChaudharyParvez) February 6, 2023
#Turkey #earthquake #Syria #Iraq #Turkey #Iran#earthquake #Turkey
Prayers for Turkey 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/Eh6ny5qYut
— vipin singh (@vipin_tika) February 6, 2023
