syria

• A team of six persons includes surgeons, paramedics, emergency medical personnel, and logistic personnel.
• An earthquake on early Monday jolted southern Turkiye and northwest Syria.
• The earthquake killed 4800 people in sleep.

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake on early Monday jolted southern Turkiye and northwest Syria, killing over 4800 people in their sleep, leveling buildings, and causing tremors felt as far away as Greenland, news agencies and Al Jazeera reported.

At least  1,651 were killed in rebel and government-controlled parts of Syria, state media and medical sources said whereas 3,381 people died in Turkey

Sou heard from David Wightwick of UK-Med, who is awaiting a flight to Turkey to lead the UK’s medical response team.

According to him, the initial team of six persons includes surgeons, paramedics, emergency medical personnel, and logistics personnel. More NHS employees will most certainly join them, he says Radio 4’s Today program, but it’s critical that they arrive first and asses how they can best assist.

He explains that they don’t want to take up too much room until they know what they can do to help Turkish officials.

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• A 51-member Pakistani rescue team had been dispatched to Istanbul.
• About 5,600 buildings have been destroyed.
• World Health Organization officials predict that up to 20,000 people may have died.

HATAY, Turkey – Rescuers in Turkey and Syria dug with their bare hands through the chilly night on Tuesday, searching for survivors among the rubble of thousands of houses destroyed by a series of powerful earthquakes.

The reported death toll in both nations has risen to more than 4,800 following a swarm of severe tremors along the Turkey-Syria border, the greatest of which registered a staggering 7.8 magnitude.

Meanwhile, federal minister Saad Rafique announced on Twitter that a 51-member Pakistani rescue team had been dispatched to Istanbul.

According to Turkish and Syrian disaster response teams, about 5,600 buildings have been destroyed across numerous cities, including many multi-story apartment buildings that were full of sleeping occupants when the first quake occurred.

Eyewitnesses in the southern Turkish city of Kahramanmaras struggled to fathom the magnitude of the calamity.

“We thought it was the apocalypse,” said Melisa Salman, a 23-year-old reporter. “That was the first time we have ever experienced anything like that.”

Turkey’s rescue agency AFAD reported 2,921 deaths on Tuesday, raising the total number of confirmed deaths to 4,365.

Residents in the Syrian village of Besnia, close to the Turkish border, search for fatalities and survivors among the rubble of collapsed buildings.

There are fears that the death toll will continue to increase inexorably, with World Health Organization officials predicting that up to 20,000 people may have died.

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• The death toll has surged to more than 4,300.
• Around 2,600 personnel from 65 countries have sent emergency aid.
• Thousands of structures were destroyed after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake.

It’s now just after 10:23 local time there, and a massive search and rescue operation that continued overnight is expected to pick up speed
The confirmed death toll has surged to more than 4,300 – but it’s likely to rise further as more sites are searched in the wide area.

According to Turkey‘s emergency service AFAD, around 2,600 personnel from 65 countries have been dispatched to the disaster area to aid Turkish rescuers.

300,000 blankets and over 41,000 family tents have been delivered in total.

Thousands of structures were destroyed after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck near Gaziantep, Turkey, in the early hours of Monday while residents were sleeping.

A 7.5-magnitude tremor then struck nearby several hours later, causing more damage to an already rattled region.
Stay tuned for the most recent updates from our correspondents on the ground, eyewitness experiences, expert analysis, and videos and images from the disaster zone.

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• A 5.5 magnitude tremor occurred at a depth of 10km.
• The tremor occurred at 03:13 GMT on Tuesday.
• Any other information has not been disclosed.

A new strong earthquake has been reported in central Turkey.

According to the US Geological Survey, a 5.5 magnitude tremor occurred at a depth of 10km (6 miles) near the town of Golbasi.

Meanwhile, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) in France estimated the depth of the quake near Golbasi to be 2 kilometers.

The tremor occurred at 03:13 GMT on Tuesday, according to both agencies. They did not disclose any other information.

Since the devastating earthquake near the city of Gaziantep on Monday morning, south-eastern Turkey has been rattled by a series of aftershocks.

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• Heavy rain and snow hampered the rescue operations.
• Nearly 4,300 people have lost their lives in Turkey and over the border in Syria.
• The World Health Organization has cautioned that the death toll might grow.

Rescuers are battling heavy rain and snow as they race against the clock to find survivors of a devastating earthquake in southeast Turkey.

Rescuers are racing against time to find survivors after a deadly earthquake in southeast Turkey.

When the earthquake struck in the early hours of Monday, it killed nearly 4,300 people in Turkey and over the border in Syria.

The World Health Organization has cautioned that the death toll might grow substantially as rescuers discover additional fatalities.

Many individuals in the disaster zone are afraid to return to their homes.

According to the US Geological Survey, the 7.8 magnitude tremor struck at 04:17 (01:17 GMT) on Monday at a depth of 17.9km (11 miles) near Gaziantep.

Seismologists claim it was one of the most powerful ever recorded in Turkey, where at least 2,921 people died. According to survivors, the shaking lasted two minutes.

A later tremor with a magnitude of 7.5 struck the Elbistan area of Kahramanmaras province.

As daylight broke on Tuesday, traffic was halted on the main highway leading to the Turkish city of Maras, which is near to the epicenter of the earthquake and is thought to be one of the worst-affected locations.

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• 1,388 people have died across Turkey and Syria.
• Thousands of people are injured in both countries.
• Hundreds are trapped under rubble.

At least 1,388 people have died across Turkey and Syria, after a huge 7.8 magnitude earthquake swept across southern Turkey early Monday, injuring thousands more people in both countries.

According to the Syrian state news agency, at least 592 people have died in Syria, with 371 of them dying primarily in the provinces of Aleppo, Hama, Latakia, and Tartus. sources also recorded 1,089 wounded.

Meanwhile, the “White Helmets” group, formally known as the Syria Civil Defense, reported at least 221 deaths and 419 wounded in opposition-held parts of northern Syria.

“Hundreds remain trapped under rubble,” the White Helmets added on Twitter.

In Turkey, at least 912 people have died and 5,385 people were injured, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a televised address Monday.

Rescuers are working through the rubble of collapsed buildings to locate survivors, while NATO, the EU, and 45 countries have offered assistance following the disaster.

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• At least 119 people perished in government-controlled portions of Syria.
• Images on television showed stunned citizens in Turkey.
• The earthquake was one of the most powerful to strike the region in at least a century.

A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Turkey and Syria early Monday, killing about 200 people, leveling buildings while many others were still sleeping, and spreading shocks as far away as Cyprus and Egypt.

According to the health ministry and a local hospital, at least 119 people perished in government-controlled portions of Syria, as well as in northern areas held by pro-Turkish forces.

Images on television showed stunned citizens in Turkey standing in the snow in their pajamas, watching rescuers rummage through the debris of destroyed homes.

The quake occurred at 04:17 a.m. local time (0117 GMT) at a depth of around 17.9 kilometers (11 miles) in the Turkish city of Gaziantep, which has a population of about two million people, according to the US Geological Survey.

Turkey’s AFAD emergencies service center put the first quake’s magnitude at 7.4, adding that it was followed by more than 40 aftershocks.

The earthquake was one of the most powerful to strike the region in at least a century, impacting southeastern Turkey, which is home to millions of refugees fleeing Syria and other war-torn countries.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who will be under enormous pressure to oversee an effective reaction to the accident as the country prepares for a closely contested election on May 14, expressed his sympathies and advocated national togetherness.

“We hope that we will get through this disaster together as soon as possible and with the least damage,” the Turkish leader tweeted.

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Washington was “profoundly concerned”.

“We stand ready to provide any and all needed assistance,” Sullivan said.

‘People under rubble’

The earthquake struck a restive, primarily Kurdish region of Turkey bordering Syria, a country racked by more than a decade of turmoil that has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions.

Rescuers were seen sifting through the wreckage of leveled buildings in Kahramanmaras and neighboring Gaziantep, where huge portions of cities had been demolished, according to images shown on Turkish media.

In one shot from Kahramanmaras, a fire lighted up the night sky, although its origin was unknown.

Buildings collapsed in Adiyaman, Malatya, and Diyarbakir, where reporters watched scared people rush out onto the streets.

Because so many structures were demolished, Kahramanmaras Governor Omer Faruk Coskun said it was too early to estimate the death toll.

“It is not possible to give the number of dead and injured at the moment because so many buildings have been destroyed,” Coskun said. “The damage is serious.”

A historic mosque from the 13th century partially fell in the province of Maltaya, as did a 14-story building with 28 flats.

Rescuers in other locations sounded distraught as they battled to reach survivors buried beneath the debris.

“We hear voices here — and over there, too,” one rescuer was overheard saying on NTV television in front of a flattened building in the city of Diyarbakir.

“There may be 200 people under the rubble.”

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• The 7.8 magnitude tremor struck at 04:17 local time.
• Officials in Turkey confirmed at least 17 deaths.
• There have also been numerous casualties recorded in Syria.

A powerful earthquake struck a vast area in south-eastern Turkey near the Syrian border, killing dozens and trapping many more.

The 7.8 magnitude tremor struck at 04:17 local time (01:17 GMT) at a depth of 17.9km (11 miles) in the city of Gaziantep, according to the US Geological Survey.

Officials in Turkey confirmed at least 17 deaths. There have also been numerous casualties recorded in Syria.

There are fears that the death toll will skyrocket in the next hours.

Many buildings have collapsed, and rescue workers are searching for survivors.

Suleymon Soylu, Turkey’s Interior Minister, reported ten cities were affected: Gaziantep, Kahramanmaras, Hatay, Osmaniye, Adiyaman, Malatya, Sanliurfa, Adana, Diyarbakir, and Kilis.

The city’s shopping center collapsed.

The tremor was felt in Syria, Lebanon, and Cyprus as well.

“I was writing something and just all of a sudden the entire building started shaking and yes I didn’t really know what to feel,” Mohamad El Chamaa, a student in the Lebanese capital Beirut, told the sources.

“I was right next to the window so I was just scared that they might shatter. It went on for four-five minutes and it was pretty horrific. It was mind-blowing,” he said.

Rushdi Abualouf, a BBC producer in Gaza, reported 45 seconds of shaking in the house where he was sleeping.

The magnitude of the quake was estimated by Turkish seismologists to be 7.4 on the Richter scale.

They reported that a second tremor struck the area barely minutes later.

Turkey is located in one of the most active seismic zones on the planet.

More than 17,000 people were murdered in 1999 when a strong earthquake shook the country’s northwest.

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