[튀르키예·시리아 대지진]
More than 130 aftershocks of magnitude 4.0 or greater
WHO “may exceed 20,000 deaths”
The death toll exceeded 5,100 on the 7th (local time), the second day after the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck southern Turkey and northern Syria, reported the Turkish state-run Anadolu news agency. On the same day, aftershocks such as a magnitude 5.7 earthquake occurred in eastern Turkiye, which is close to the epicenter, and as many people are still trapped under the rubble of thousands of collapsed buildings, some observers say that the death toll could reach 20,000.
According to the Anadolu News Agency, the Turkiye Disaster and Emergency Management Agency announced that a total of 5,171 people were killed, including 3,549 people in Turkey and 1,622 people in Syria, as of 4:30 p.m. . The number of deaths per day has tripled. The number of injured was 21,103 in Turkiye and 3,649 in Syria.
The Korean government and the international community are helping, but rescue is not easy due to many collapsed buildings and bad weather such as rain and snow. As of the morning of the 7th, the Turkiye authorities found that 5775 buildings had collapsed.
Aftershocks followed. About 30 hours after the first earthquake, including a magnitude 5.7 earthquake at 7:11 a.m. in eastern Turkey, 130 aftershocks with a magnitude of 4.0 or greater occurred, including four earthquakes with a magnitude of 6.0 or greater, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. .
The World Health Organization (WHO) is concerned about the possibility of an explosion in deaths. Catherine Smallwood, WHO’s senior emergency planning officer for Europe, told AFP on the 6th, “In many cases, the number of casualties increases considerably during a week after an earthquake occurs.” At that time, the number of deaths was about 2,600, which means that if it increased eightfold, it could exceed 20,000. The New York Times reported that Turkiye and Syria, which are suffering from economic hardship and serious civil war due to high prices, will face greater hardships due to the earthquake.
Turkiye Earthquake… Over 5100 deaths
Video of 7-story building collapsing in 10 seconds uploaded
Survivors shudder in cold-aftershock fear
The 2,200-year-old Gaziantep Old City was also damaged.
It’s like being bombed… collapsed buildings A 7.8-magnitude earthquake that occurred in the southeastern part of Turkiye on the morning of the 6th (local time) struck the southern Hatay apartment complex, causing about 10 buildings to collapse and their shape unrecognizable. As of the morning of the 7th, Turkiye authorities have counted that more than 5,700 buildings have collapsed in the earthquake-affected area of Turkiye. Hatay = Getty Images“God, what have we done to give us these trials?”
Muhammad Hai Qadur, who barely escaped with his family on the 6th (local time) from Idlib Province in northwestern Syria, which was directly hit by the earthquake that struck southeastern Turkey and northern Syria, recalled:
Mr. Kadur told the New York Times (NYT) that day, “A whole building the size of a football field has been wiped out. All around was the sound of people crying,” he said. A doctor from Idlib province said, “More than 50 bodies were piled up in the hospital hallway. Most of them were children,” he told the NYT, “another body continued to come in.”
Strong earthquakes of magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 and a total of 130 aftershocks that lasted until the 7th collapsed buildings in an instant. In the scene video released by Sky News in the UK, it was captured that a seven-story building in Haliliye, Shanle Urfage, about 140 km east of Gaziantep in southern Turkiye, the epicenter, collapsed in 10 seconds with a roar. In eastern Malatya, the scene of the building collapsing was broadcast over the reporters of Turkiye Broadcasting, who were broadcasting live on the spot. In some cases, aftershocks caused mayhem as part of the building collapsed and hit rescuers.
The people who survived the blackout caused by the earthquake and the cold weather that dropped to minus 5 degrees had to spend the night in the dark streets due to successive aftershocks. Most of them could not pack a single thick layer of clothing or even had no shoes. On the night of the 6th, in many places in the affected area of Turkiye, adults and children alike gathered around bonfires made from the timbers of collapsed buildings to warm up.
In some cases, rescuers did not arrive or were unable to start the search operation due to lack of equipment. A man living in Marash, southeastern Kahraman, said on the 7th, “His mother has been trapped (in the rubble) for 24 hours since yesterday. They said rescuers were coming in the morning, but there was no news. The (rescue) system is poor,” said the Guardian, a British daily.
According to Turkish residents, the streets of Hatay in southern Turkey were filled with cries and calls for help calling for family and friends who were buried under rubble. There were power outages as well as frequent phone and Internet connections. City roads were paralyzed with cars trying to get out and cars coming in to rescue acquaintances and relatives. “The second and third floors of the (three-story) 100-year-old church building collapsed,” said pastor Anpaul Antioch Church, who lives in Hatay.
Many cultural assets were also damaged. According to AFP, the walls and watchtowers of the 2,200-year-old Gaziantep Castle, a landmark of Gaziantep, have been damaged beyond recognition. The citadel of Aleppo, Syria, a UNESCO World Heritage site that was intact for nearly 800 years, was also partially damaged.
In a speech to the nation on the 7th, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Turkiye declared a state of emergency for three months in 10 southeastern regions severely damaged by the earthquake. “At least 8,000 people have been rescued and 53,000 are still in rescue operations,” Erdogan said.
Istanbul =
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.