Turkey and Syria have experienced a series of earthquake since this Monday. On Monday the earthquake magnitude was 7.8, early morning when people were sleeping, which was followed by dozens of aftershocks. The second major earthquake was measured as 7.5 magnitudes after few hours which caused panic and then in the evening the last quake was of the magnitude 6.0. After these three deadly earthquakes Turkey was hit by two fresh earthquakes on Tuesday of the magnitudes 5.6 and 5.7.
Region Of Earthquake
The earthquake was centred in Turkey’s south-eastern province of Kahramanmaras which dislocated the residents of Damascus and Beirut and it was felt as far as Cairo. Some of the heaviest devastation occurred near Kahramanmaras and Gaziantep, a city of two million which is now full of ruins.
The 7.8 magnitude quake hit at depth of 11 miles in Southern Turkey. After that there were 13 aftershocks in the first 11 hours of around 5 magnitudes. Then the 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit turkey and the aftershocks of it are to be expected in the upcoming days and weeks.
Turkey is in a seismically active zone so it is very common in Turkey to experience earthquakes but these earthquakes had massive magnitudes, resulting in the death of many people. The death toll in Turkey is around 4000 and 2000 in Syria until now.
Rescuers And Survivors
These earthquakes have caused a lot of panic among people; thousands of people are sheltered in sports centers or halls, while others spent the night outside around fires in blankets. Rescuers are trying very hard to save people trapped under the rubble. Syrian toddler Ismail was rushed to safety from the rubble of her home after it collapsed but her family could not make it out alive that included her two siblings and her pregnant mother.
Many survivors screamed for help “Can you hear me?” in the province of Kahramanmaras and nearby areas of Turkey in hope of getting help from rescuers beneath collapsed buildings.
Rescuers crawled in and out of those collapsed building to reach the survivors. They worked constantly even when darkness, rain and cold were all over Turkey and Syria. In total 1.500 buildings are destroyed and collapsed.
Aids From Countries
Turkey is getting aid from many countries. A navy ship is sent to transport survivors in need of medical care to the nearby city of Mersin. India is sending supplies to Syria in an Indian Air Force C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft. Indian Airlines (Indigo) has offered free cargo movement on its scheduled commercial flights to Istanbul using Boeing 777 aircraft. India is sending two more IAF planes with first batch of relief materials along with an NDRF team and a dog squad to Turkey.
The European Union, Russia, Israeli army, and many more are sending rescue team for helping in the search. United Nation and World Health Organization have dispatched forces and medical aid. China will give Turkey $6 million in emergency aid. US President reaffirmed to provide “any and all” needed assistance to Turkey.
The 7.8 magnitude is being compared to the earthquake that had hit Turkey in the year of 1939 killing almost 30,000 people. It was termed as “biggest disaster” and so Turkey has declared seven days of national mourning and 3 months emergency in the affected areas after these earthquakes.
