Dozens killed as powerful earthquake jolts Turkey and Syria
More than 50 people have been reported dead and dozens trapped under debris after a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck southeast Turkey and Syria during the early hours of Monday.
The quake struck at a depth of six miles near the southern Turkish city of Kahramanmaras, according to the German Research Centre for Geosciences. The chances of a tsunami risk were evaluated.
The powerful jolt, which was followed by at least six aftershocks, toppled hundreds of buildings, sending residents into the snowy streets for safety.
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that "search and rescue teams were immediately dispatched" to the areas hit by the quake. "We hope that we will get through this disaster together as soon as possible and with the least damage," he said in a tweet.
Turkey’s disaster and emergency management agency said the earthquake was also felt strongly in the provinces of Hatay, Adana, Osmaniye, Diyarbakır, Malatya and Sanliurfa.
Interior minister Suleyman Soylu said the government's priority was to bring out people who are trapped under the rubble and rush them to hospitals. He has urged people to not enter the damaged buildings and stop using mobile phones.
Early estimates by officials suggested the death toll was at least 23 in Turkey's Malatya province, 17 in Sanliurfa, six in Diyarbakir and five more in Osmaniye.
"I have never felt anything like it in the 40 years I've lived," said Erdem, a resident of the Turkish city of Gaziantep, near the quake's epicentre. "We were shaken at least three times very strongly, like a baby in a crib," he told Reuters.
Across the border, Syrian authorities said at least 62 people have died in the earthquake while dozens remain trapped in the country’s northwest region.
Syrian state media reported that the quake levelled some buildings in the northern city of Aleppo and the central city of Hama, while people were forced to rush to the streets in Damascus.
The quake jolted residents in Lebanon from beds, shaking buildings for about 40 seconds. Many residents of Beirut left their homes and took to the streets or drove in their cars away from buildings.
Turkey sits on top of major fault lines and is frequently hit by quakes. In 1999, a powerful earthquake killed some 18,000 people in northwest Turkey.
