Destruction in Turkey
On the night of February 6, an earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck southeastern Turkey, the strongest in the country since 1939.
The most powerful earthquake in Turkey and Syria shook the whole world, killing more than 2300 people in Turkey. According to the US Geological Survey, the first earthquake occurred at 04:17 local time, the source lay at a depth of 17.9 km near the city of Gaziantep in southeastern Turkey. More than 40 aftershocks followed the first earthquake, according to the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority. The second earthquake of magnitude 7.6 hit the southeastern Turkish region of Kahramanmaras.
Turkish authorities reported that the second earthquake occurred at a depth of 7 km. Its epicenter was in the Elbistan region of Kahramanmarash province.
Huge destruction
Turkish Interior Minister Suleiman Soylu said that 10 cities were affected – Gaziantep, Kahramanmaras, Hatay, Osmaniye, Adiyaman, Malatya, Sanliurfa, Adana, Diyarbakir and Kilis.
The shocks were felt in Ankara and other Turkish cities, as well as throughout the region – in Cyprus, in Lebanon.
To eliminate the consequences of the earthquake, the Turkish Air Force deployed transport aircraft. About a thousand volunteers were transferred from Istanbul to the south of the country to participate in search and rescue operations. The Syrian Defense Ministry announced that it was mobilizing its forces throughout the country for rescue work and assistance to the victims.
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Not the first time
According to CNN, on average, the world experiences less than five earthquakes with a magnitude of about 7.8 per year. In Turkey itself, where such natural disasters occur frequently, there have been seven earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or greater over the past 25 years.
The tremors from the earthquake were felt even in Greenland.
“If you look at the distribution of earthquakes of magnitude 7 and above since the beginning of instrumental records (since about 1900), today’s M7.8 event is the largest earthquake ever recorded in this region,” said Stephen Hicks, a seismologist at the University of College London – Most major earthquakes have occurred along the North Anatolian Fault in northern Turkey.
Turkey is located in one of the most active seismic zones in the world.
In 1999, more than 17 thousand people died after a powerful earthquake in the Izmit region in the north-west of the country.
EPA
The world will help
The European Union said it was sending rescue teams to Turkey after Ankara asked the EU for help. “Teams from the Netherlands and Romania are on their way,” EU Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic said, adding that the bloc’s civil defense mechanism had been activated.
President Emmanuel Macron said that France is ready to provide emergency assistance to Turkey and Syria. “Our thoughts are with the families of the victims,” he wrote.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has announced that a Dutch search and rescue team will join the search for survivors in Turkey and Syria. In his tweet, he also offered condolences to Turkish President Erdogan, saying: “My thoughts are with all the victims of this major natural disaster.”
“The UK is ready to provide any assistance,” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said, adding that his thoughts are with the people of Turkey and Syria.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine, despite the war, “is ready to provide the necessary assistance to overcome the consequences of a natural disaster.” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Ukraine was “deeply saddened by the loss of life and damage” caused by the earthquake.
