Ankara/Damascus: The death toll due to the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria has increased to more than 4,300 as rescuers are racing
Ankara/Damascus: The death toll due to the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria has increased to more than 4,300 as rescuers are racing against time to find more survivors amid heavy rain and snow in the two neighbouring nations, according to media reports.
As of Tuesday morning, the toll in Turkey stood at 2,921, while in Syria it increased to 1,451, the BBC reported.
According to Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), there were at least 15,834 injured persons, while 7,840 people were pulled alive.
The AFAD also noted that at least 5,606 buildings destroyed, adding that a total of 14,720 people are currently providing assistance in the disaster zone, including military personnel, reports Xinhua news agency.
The devastating 7.8 earthquake struck Turkey’s southern province of Kahramanmaras at 4.17 a.m. on Monday morning, which was followed by a 6.4-magnitude temblor a few minutes later in Gaziantep province.
The epicentre of the 7.8-magnitude quake was 23 km east of Nurdagi in Gaziantep, at a depth of 24.1 km, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.
At around 1.30 p.m, athird 7.5-magnitude tremor hit Kahramanmaras, which officials said was “not an aftershock”.
There were more than 60 aftershocks recorded throughout the day.
Meanwhile in Syria, of the overall toll, 711 deaths were recorded across government-controlled areas, mostly in the regions of Aleppo, Hama, Latakia, and Tartus, CNN quoted state news agency SANA as saying.
