As the world woke up today to the tragic images of a devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria in the early hours of the morning, rescue and recovery efforts in the two countries are in full swing.
Emergency services were wading through crumbled buildings and pulling out survivors as the death toll of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake climbed to more than 500. Thousands more are missing, many of them presumed dead.
The earthquake levelled buildings and sent tremors as far away as the island of Cyprus, Egypt and Iraq.
It was one of the largest quakes to strike Turkey in a century and wiped out entire sections of major cities in a region filled with millions of people who have fled the civil war in Syria and other conflicts.
The head of Syria’s National Earthquake Centre, Raed Ahmed, told pro-government radio that it was “historically, the biggest earthquake recorded in the history of the centre”.
Below are a curated list of some of the horror images coming out of the region from activists and journalists.
My sympathies to the people of Turkey who suffered in the horrible earthquake. It is a devastating tragedy. pic.twitter.com/Dn7ErruNfx
Horrible footage of buildings collapsing in Syria due to the deadly earthquake. #Turkey #Turkiye #Syria #earthquake #deprem #Türkiyem #ACİL #Malatya pic.twitter.com/wikFH761oA
— World Times (@WorldTimesWT) February 6, 2023
1/2 Russia is ready to assist Turkey and Syria in the aftermath of the earthquake. Russian President Vladimir Putin wrote about this in letters of condolences to Bashar al-Assad and Recep Tayyip Erdogan. pic.twitter.com/B1PM4jaMqy
At least 245 people died in government-controlled parts of Syria, as well as the northern areas held by pro-Turkish factions, according to the health ministry and a hospital.
At least 284 people also died in Turkey, Vice-President Fuat Oktay said on Monday, adding that more than 2 300 people had been injured and that search and rescue work was continuing in several major cities.
Shocked survivors in Turkey rushed out into the snow-covered streets in their pyjamas, watching rescuers dig through the debris of damaged homes.
“Seven members of my family are under the debris,” Muhittin Orakci, a stunned survivor in Turkey’s mostly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, said.
“My sister and her three children are there. And also her husband, her father-in-law and her mother-in-law.”
The rescue was being hampered by a winter blizzard that covered major roads in ice and snow. Officials said the quake made three major airports in the area inoperable, further complicating deliveries of vital aid.
© Agence France-Presse