Feb 7, 2023: The extent of the damage was only beginning to become clear a few hours after the powerful earthquake, as rescue crews raced to locate anyone who had been harmed. Keep reading to know more!
After a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey and northern Syria early on Monday, taking lives of people and bulldozing structures while many others were still asleep, urgent rescue efforts were launched immediately after. It was followed by another strong earthquake quake which was felt in several provinces in the region, destroying a number of buildings.
The extent of the damage was only beginning to become clear a few hours after the powerful earthquake, as rescue crews raced to locate anyone who had been harmed.
In Turkey, at least 2,921 people lost their lives, NY Times reported, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency, in addition to at least 13,293 injured, and more than 5,600 buildings were destroyed, the government said.
More than 1,450 people lost their lives, according to the state health ministry and the White Helmets relief group, and thousands more were injured across the country, again, as reported by NY Times. Because dozens of apartment towers in major cities were destroyed during the nighttime disaster, the count is anticipated to rise significantly. Lebanon, Greece, Israel, and the island of Cyprus all experienced tremors.
![](https://i0.wp.com/newzpepper.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/FoRGEuPXEAQooAy.jpeg?resize=655%2C1024&ssl=1)
A major industrial city in southern Turkey called Gaziantep is an hour's drive away to the north in the town of Pazarck, according to the disaster management ministry of Turkey, the AFAD. The epicentre of the second tremor, which was felt around 4:26 a.m. local time (6:26 a.m. IST), was in the town of Nurda, about 50 miles (80 kilometres) to the southwest.
State television depicted rescue workers pick through the wreckage of destroyed homes. The director of the Turkish Red Cross asked residents to leave damaged homes as the organisation was mobilising services for the area after learning of catastrophic damage and collapsed buildings. Residents in the town of Pazarck expressed concern for those who may be trapped beneath collapsed structures.
According to Nihat Altunda, his family was awakened by the earthquake's strong shocks. He said, although the inside of their house has cracks, the exterior appears to be solid. There were several structures that were collapsing and just 200 metres away from where he was, a building fell. He said that they are grateful that all of their friends are safe, but they’ve heard that there are some individuals who can't leave their homes and others who are out of our reach.
![](https://i2.wp.com/newzpepper.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/FoQRMWpXgAAmXXH.jpeg?resize=696%2C522&ssl=1)
Recep Tayyip Erdoan, the president of Turkey, announced that search and rescue teams had been sent right away to the affected districts. Erdoan will be under pressure to oversee an efficient reaction to the disaster in the lead-up to a hotly contested election on May 14. He tweeted, "We also coordinate the works initiated after the earthquake. We hope that we will get through this disaster together as soon as possible and with the least damage, and we continue our work.".
The quake was among the strongest to strike the area in at least a century. Turkey is located in one of the seismically active regions of the planet meaning that it is highly prone to earthquakes.
Experts have long cautioned that Istanbul, which has permitted extensive building without safety safeguards, may be completely destroyed by a huge earthquake. Naci Gorur, an expert on earthquakes with the Turkish Academy of Sciences, pleaded with local officials to check the area's dams for fractures right away to prevent possibly disastrous flooding.