Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria: more than 1000 dead ++ another magnitude 7.5 aftershock PC maker Dell cuts 6650 jobs

Two violent earthquakes in quick succession shook southeastern Turkey and northern Syria on Monday morning. The number of deaths has risen dramatically in recent hours – in all there are hundreds dead and thousands injured.

The earthquakes

An earthquake of Scope 7.4 shook southeastern Turkey early Monday morning. The civil protection agency Afad said the epicenter was in Kahramanmaras province near the Syrian border. National Earthquake Center head Raed Ahmed said this was the strongest quake to hit Syria since 1995, according to Sana.

Another quake of Force 6.6 was measured shortly afterwards in the Gaziantep province of Turkey.

There were a large number of aftershocks.

Another magnitude 7.5 earthquake shook southeastern Turkey in the morning. The epicenter was in Kahramanmaras province, Istanbul’s Kandilli earthquake station reported Monday.

The Geoforschungszentrum Potsdam had previously reported earthquakes with magnitudes of 7.4 and 7.9. According to official information, the earthquake was also felt in Israel.

The casualty numbers

More than 1,000 people were killed in the strong earthquake in the Turkish-Syrian border area.

Turkey

In Turkey died at least 912 persons, as announced by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday. At least 5,300 people were injured. More than 2,400 people were rescued from the rubble.

The Turkish crescent called on the population to donate blood. In addition to blood donations, communities in the affected regions also called for in-kind donations and asked for items such as blankets, heaters, winter clothing, food packages and baby food.

Photos in Diyarbakir show barehanded rescuers clearing debris to free people trapped in a collapsed building.

Rain and cold make operations difficult. Temperatures in the affected areas are currently often in the minus range. It snowed heavily in some places. The state broadcaster TRT showed how people in the city of Iskenderun were freed from the rubble in the snow. Photos were also shown from the cities of Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Osmaniye, Diyarbakir and Adana, in which people were taken away, some wrapped in blankets.

The Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) currently has no information on Swiss casualties, as the FDFA informed the Keystone-SDA news agency upon request. Investigations are underway. The Swiss representations in Ankara and Istanbul are in contact with the responsible authorities on the ground. Swiss nationals on site are obliged to follow the instructions of the local authorities.

Syria

In Syria are in Syria more than 380 people died. More than 1,300 people are said to have been injured in several provinces, Deputy Health Minister Ahmed Dhamirijeh told Syrian state television on Monday. This is reported by aid organization SAMS, which works in rebel-controlled areas in Syria more than 100 fatalities.

“We are responding with everything we can to rescue those trapped under the rubble,” said the head of the Syrian group, Raed Al Saleh. “The situation is very tragic,” said one member of the group.

The damage

Images from both countries showed the extent of the devastation.

Turkey

According to the interior minister, several provinces in Turkey have been affected. At least 1700 buildings have collapsed. The collapsed buildings included residential buildings and a hospital in the town of Iskenderun. According to the state news agency Anadolu, the castle in the city of Gaziantep has also been badly damaged. It is a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Multiple airports In the regions of Turkey particularly affected by the earthquake, civilian flights will remain closed for the time being. It concerns the airports in Hatay, Kahramanmaras and Gaziantep, Vice President Fuat Oktay said Monday morning.

Rescue teams from all over the country would be brought together. In addition, alert level four was declared and international help was called for. Due to the communication bottlenecks, people in Turkey were urged to call online and not via the mobile phone network, so that buried people can be reached first. Temperatures in the affected areas are currently often in the minus range. It snowed heavily in some places.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote on Twitter: “We hope that together we can get through this disaster in the shortest possible time and with the least damage possible.”

Turkey is repeatedly hit by strong earthquakes. Two of the largest continental plates meet there: the African and the Eurasian. In fact, most of the Turkish population lives in constant danger from earthquakes.

In October 2020, more than 100 people died in Izmir in one of the strongest earthquakes in recent years. In 1999 Turkey was hit by one of the worst natural disasters in its history: a magnitude 7.4 earthquake in the region around the northwestern industrial city of Izmit claimed the lives of more than 17,000 people. Experts also expect a strong earthquake in Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul, in the near future.

Syria

Buildings have collapsed in numerous cities in Syria, Sana said. An entire block of houses collapsed in Idlib province. Rescue teams tried to pull people out of the rubble at night and at dawn.

International aid

“We urgently need the help of the international community,” said Basel Termanini, president of the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS), the dpa. The situation was “catastrophic”.

The Switzerland send help, as Federal President Alain Berset and Secretary of State Ignazio Cassis explained in tweets. Redog, a Swiss association for search and rescue dogs, sends three teams to the disaster area.

Also the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Germany would of course send aid.

Israel wants to provide humanitarian aid to Turkey after the severe earthquake. Israeli Defense Minister Joav Galant on Monday instructed the army and the Defense Ministry to make the necessary preparations. “Our security forces stand ready to provide any necessary assistance,” Galant said. Israel has experience with emergencies and saving lives.

Israel’s Zaka rescue service announced preparations to send an aid delegation. This should help with searching collapsed houses. Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen expressed his sincere condolences to Turkey over the severe earthquake and also announced the assistance of his ministry.

Greece declared its willingness to send rescue teams to the earthquake zone in the neighboring country, despite intense tensions with Turkey. “Greece will help immediately,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said.

Greece has rescue teams (EMAK) with extensive experience in earthquake-affected regions, as the country – like Turkey – experiences earthquakes time and time again. The two NATO members had previously assisted each other during major earthquakes in Turkey and Greece in 1999. This helps that under the name earthquake diplomacy is known, a phase of détente began at that time.

In Italy Civil protection issued a tsunami warning Monday evening, which was withdrawn several hours later. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government provided aid to Turkey and Syria. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg wrote on Twitter that Turkey’s NATO partners are ready to mobilize support.

(red/sda/dpa)