Turkey, Syria earthquakes LIVE: Over 53,000 working to save lives – Turkish prez

The European Union has sent more than 1,150 rescue workers, along with some 70 dogs, in response to the quake. The teams come from 19 European countries, according to the EU Commission, reported Bloomberg.

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has spoken with Syria’s Bashar al-Assad offering his full support for earthquake relief efforts, Egypt’s presidency said on Tuesday, reports Reuters.

210 victims have been handed over to their families, and there are other victims awaiting identification by their families and the prosecution and investigation judges who are on alert, Syrian public attorney Al-Watan Online.

Erdogan said that 70 countries had offered help in search and rescue operations and that Turkey planned to open up hotels in the tourism hub of Antalya, to the west, to temporarily house people impacted by the quakes.

He said the death toll in Turkey had risen to 3,549 people.

“For the emergency aid and support, we have allocated a resource of 100 billion liras at the disposal of our institutions in the first place”, Turkish president Erdogan.

50 billion Syrian pounds are allocated as an initial amount to finance the emergency operations undertaken to deal with the effects of the devastating earthquake that struck the country.

President Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday declared as a disaster zone the 10 provinces affected by the devastating earthquakes in southern Turkey, imposing a state of emergency in the region for three months. Read more

53,317 search and rescue staff and support personnel currently working in earthquake zone, says Turkish President Erdogan.

The Syrian Red Crescent on Tuesday appealed to Western countries to lift sanctions and provide aid after a powerful earthquake has killed more than 1,600 people across the war-torn country, reports AFP. Read more

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Tuesday called on Russia to help pressure Syria into allowing humanitarian aid into the country for victims of Monday’s deadly earthquakes quickly and without additional obstacles, reports Reuters.

“All international actors, including Russia, should exert their pressure on the Syrian regime to ensure humanitarian help for victims can arrive,” said Baerbock during a news conference in Berlin with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirsojan.

Turkish and Kurdish communities in Germany have launched donation drives to send aid. Levent Cukur has coordinated an aid drive in the boxing gym he runs in Munich.

“We didn’t expect it to go this crazy, it’s mad. We thought we would fill two vans and then send them off but it hasn’t stopped since 10 this morning.”

The Turkish government is scrambling to house people forced into the street after their homes either collapsed or were too risky to stay in because of the aftershocks.

Hundreds of thousands spent the night in dormitories, schools, mosques and other public buildings, while others sheltered in hotels that opened their doors for free.

Across the region, rescuers toiled through the night and into the morning searching for survivors as people waited in anguish by mounds of rubble, clinging to the hope that friends and relatives might be found alive.

A state government foundation has issued helpline numbers for non-resident Rajasthanis (NRR) seeking assistance in the earthquake-hit Turkey and Syria, reports PTI.

Those seeking help can reach the foundation at: 91 83060 09838, 0141-2229111 and 011-23070807.

“We have launched these helpline numbers to ensure that no NRR goes unattended during this crisis. The foundation will coordinate to provide assistance to those affected by the disaster,” Rajasthan Foundation Commissioner Dhiraj Srivastava said.

Countries around the world including India, US, China, Britain, European Union have mobilised rapidly to send aid and rescue workers after a massive earthquake killed more than 5,000 people in Turkey and Syria.

A victim, Nurgul Atay told The Associated Press she could hear her mother’s voice beneath the rubble of a collapsed building in the city of Antakya, the capital of Hatay province, but that her and others efforts to get into the ruins had been futile without any rescue crews and heavy equipment to help.

“If only we could lift the concrete slab we’d be able to reach her,” she said. “My mother is 70-years-old, she won’t be able to withstand this for long.”

The UN’s cultural agency UNESCO said on Tuesday it was ready to provide assistance after two sites listed on its World Heritage list in Syria and Turkey sustained damage in the devastating earthquake, reports AFP.

As well as the damage to the old city of Syria’s Aleppo and the fortress in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir, UNESCO said at least three other World Heritage sites could be affected.

“Our organisation will provide assistance within its mandate,” said UNESCO director general Audrey Azoulay.

In the Turkish city of Sanliurfa, survivors of the massive quake that has wreaked death, destruction and havoc on the region face an invisible but powerful threat — hunger, reports AFP.

As the morning sun illuminates the sky, Sanliurfa’s cracked streets look empty. The mercury is only just above freezing, but it feels much colder.

Turkish and Kurdish communities in Germany have launched donation drives to send money, warm clothes and blankets to victims of a devastating earthquake that tore through Turkey and northwest Syria on Monday, reports Reuters.

Germany has around 2.3 million people of Turkish origin, the largest Turkish diaspora community in the world, according to the Turkish Community in Germany.

Germany will provide an additional million euros to the Malteser International aid group and is working to make more financial aid available to other humanitarian partners helping quake victims in Syria, said Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, reports Reuters.

Speaking at a news conference in Berlin on Tuesday with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirsojan, Baerbock added that Germany is also pushing for humanitarian access to Syria.

The rescue wokers said that urgent help was needed from international groups for the rescue effort by the organisation known as the White Helmets in rebel-held northwest Syria, where hundreds were killed and injured.

“Every second means saving lives and we call on all humanitarian organisations to give material aid and respond to this catastrophe urgently,” Raed al-Saleh, a rescue worker told Reuters.

Time is running out to save hundreds of families trapped under the rubble of buildings brought down by Monday’s earthquake, the head of the Syrian opposition-run civil defence service said on Tuesday, reports Reuters.

The United Nations children’s agency said on Tuesday that the earthquake and aftershocks that destroyed scores of buildings in Turkey and Syria may have killed thousands of children.

“The earthquakes that hit southern Turkey and northern Syria early yesterday morning may have killed thousands of children,” UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told reporters at a briefing in Geneva.

He added the organisation could not determine a specific death toll of children.

Trading on the Istanbul stock market was halted for a second time on Tuesday as a market-wide circuit breaker kicked in following heavy losses in the wake of Monday’s devastating earthquake in Turkey and neighbouring Syria, reports Reuters.

The second circuit-breaker was issued at 1004 GMT, with the benchmark BIST-100 index down 7.01% and the banking index down 6.41%. On Monday, the BIST-100 tumbled as much as 4.99% before circuit breakers came into effect, suspending trading in dozens of shares, and trading volumes remained at a fraction of last week’s average at 21 billion lira ($1.12 billion), according to a research note from Ziraat Yatirim.

“It is now a race against time,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, explaining that the UN health agency was urgently sending aid to the area.

“We’re mobilising emergency supplies and we have activated the WHO network of emergency medical teams to provide essential health care for the injured and most vulnerable”, reports AFP.

India to send medical supplies to Syria today in an Indian Air Force C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft today: Defence officials, reports ANI.

Structural engineers, soldiers, paramedics and handlers with trained search dogs are heading to Turkey and Syria to help locate and rescue survivors of Monday’s earthquake, reports AP.

Weeping in the rain, a resident who gave his name as Deniz wrung his hands in despair.

“They’re making noises but nobody is coming,” he said. “We’re devastated, we’re devastated. My God … They’re calling out. They’re saying, ‘Save us’ but we can’t save them. How are we going to save them? There has been nobody since the morning.”

Families slept in cars lined up in the streets, reports Reuters.

Turkish authorities say some 13.5 million people were affected in an area spanning roughly 450 km from Adana in the west to Diyarbakir in the east, and 300 km from Malatya in the north to Hatay in the south, reports Reuters.

Overwhelmed rescuers struggled to save people trapped under the rubble as the death toll from a devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria rose past 5,000 on Tuesday, reports Reuters.

The temperature was close to freezing as the rain came down and there was no electricity or fuel in the city.

The Indian aviation regulator has held a meeting with Indian carriers over operating flights to Turkey for cargo movements in commercial scheduled flights, reports ANI

IndiGo has offered free cargo movement on its scheduled commercial flights using Boeing 777 aircraft to Istanbul.

Ghana national player and former Newcastle midfielder Christian Atsu has been found alive in the rubble of an earthquake that killed more than 4,800 people in Turkey and neighbouring Syria, Ghana’s ambassador to Turkey said Tuesday.

While rescue teams are scrambling to find survivors trapped under debris after a series of massive earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, some heart-wrenching videos of children and their parents have emerged on social media claiming to be from the disaster-struck countries.

Read full report here

23 million people could be affected by quake in Turkey, Syria, says World Health Body. 

“Event overview maps show that potentially 23 million people are exposed, including around five million vulnerable populations,” the World Health Organization’s senior emergencies officer Adelheid Marschang said.

Turkey ordered the resumption of crude-oil flows to the Ceyhan export terminal on the Mediterranean coast, according to an official with direct knowledge of the matter, reports Bloomberg.

State pipeline operator Botas had halted flows to the facility as a precaution on Monday morning, after the first of two massive earthquakes shook the region.

Rescue operations are focusing on those three provinces and Malatya, Oktay said, reports Reuters.

Turkey’s Vice President Fuat Oktay said the total number of deaths in Turkey had risen to 3,419, with another 20,534 people injured, reports AP

Total death toll surpasses 5,000 in Turkey and Syria from Earthquake, after Turkey declares 3,419 dead, reports Reuters

Second flight having a commander, 50 rescuers, one NDRF doctor, paramedics & rescuers left for #Turkey, from Hindon Airbase, Ghaziabad, at 11 am today, as India extends help to the earthquake-marred nation amid death toll there reaching 5,000.

So far, 11,000 buildings have been reported damaged in Turkey, said Tatar. Nearly 25,000 emergency responders are working at scenes impacted, reported CNN.

At least 1,602 people were killed and thousands injured in Syria following a number of deadly earthquakes and aftershocks in neighbouring Turkey, authorities and rescuers said on Tuesday.

Rescuers raced Tuesday to find survivors in the rubble of thousands of buildings brought down by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake and multiple aftershocks that struck eastern Turkey and neighboring Syria, with the discovery of more bodies raising the death toll to 4,983.

An earthquake of magnitude 5.7 struck eastern Trukey on Tuesday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said.

The quake was at a depth of 46 km (28.58 miles), the centre added.

India will send two more C-17 Indian Air Force planes to Turkey later this evening with 60 Para Field Hospital and personnel to assist in rescue and relief operations.

According to defence officials, the Agra-based Army Field Hospital has despatched an 89-member medical team.

War-ravaged Syria is calling on the United Nations and all member states to help with rescue efforts, health services, shelter and food aid following a massive earthquake that killed thousands in Syria and Turkey.

A large fire that broke out at a section of a port in an earthquake-stricken city in southeast Turkey is raging for a second day.

Television images Tuesday showed thick black smoke rising from burning containers at Iskenderun Port on the Mediterranean Sea, in the city of Iskenderun. Reports said the fire was caused by containers that toppled over during the powerful earthquake that struck southeast Turkey on Monday.

Strained medical centers quickly filled with injured people, rescue workers said. Some facilities had to be emptied, including a maternity hospital, according to the SAMS medical organization.

In disasters like the 7.8 magnitude earthquake and 7.5-magnitude aftershock that struck Syria and Turkey on February 6, 2023, international cooperation on satellite imaging plays a crucial role in the rescue and recovery efforts.

Such data enables humanitarian aid to better deliver water and food by mapping the condition of roads, bridges, buildings, and – most crucially – identifying populations trying to escape potential aftershocks by gathering in stadiums or other open spaces.

The medical aid organization Doctors Without Borders says a staff member has been found dead under the rubble of his house in Syria’s Idlib province following the powerful earthquake that struck Syria and Turkey.

At least four Turkish airports were damaged, said authorities, who were tracking calls for help on social media from people who were believed to be trapped under the rubble. More than 6,200 buildings have collapsed in Turkey, authorities said.

India has dispatched the first batch of relief material to Turkey aboard an Indian Air Force aircraft even as rescuers searched through the frigid night into Tuesday, hoping to pull more survivors from the rubble after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake killed more than 3,800 people and toppled thousands of buildings across a wide region. Read more

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan called the quake a historic disaster and said authorities were doing all they could.

“Everyone is putting their heart and soul into efforts although the winter season, cold weather and the earthquake happening during the night makes things more difficult,” he said. He said 45 countries had offered to help the search and rescue efforts.

Nearly 8,000 people have been rescued from 4,758 buildings destroyed in the tremors a day earlier, Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said in its latest statement.

China will give a first tranche of 40 million yuan ($5.9 million) in emergency aid to help Turkey’s relief efforts after this week’s major earthquake, state broadcaster CCTV said on Tuesday.

China’s Red Cross will give emergency aid of $200,000 each to Turkey and Syria, it added.

The earthquake was powerful — especially for a quake that hit on land. Typically, very strong earthquakes occur underwater, Margarita Segou, a seismologist with the British Geological Survey, said.

On top of that, the quake hit near heavily populated areas. The epicenter was near Gaziantep, a major city and provincial capital in Turkey.

The affected regions were also home to vulnerable buildings, experts have said. 

In announcing the plan Tuesday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol described Turkey as a “brother nation” that sent troops to fight alongside South Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War. Turkey lost more than 700 of its forces in action.

The quake occurred in a seismically active area known as the East Anatolian fault zone, which has produced damaging earthquakes in the past.

Turkey was struck by another major earthquake in January 2020 — a magnitude 6.7 that caused significant damage in the eastern part of the country. In 1999, a 7.4 magnitude quake struck near Istanbul and killed an estimated 18,000 people.

Researchers said the earthquake was a strike-slip quake, where two tectonic plates slide past each other horizontally. The Earth is divided up into different pieces, “kind of like a jigsaw puzzle,” said Eric Sandvol, a seismologist at the University of Missouri.

Those pieces meet at fault lines, where the plates usually grind against each other slowly. But once enough tension builds up, they can snap past each other quickly, releasing a large amount of energy. In this case, one plate moved west while the other moved east — jerking past each other to create the quake, Hatem said.

Over time, aftershocks will start to die down and become less frequent, Sandvol said.

New Zealand is providing $632,000 to the Turkish Red Crescent and $316,000 to the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to deliver items such as food, tents and blankets, as well as provide medical assistance and psychological support.

According to Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca, who spoke during a news conference from Hatay Emergency Coordination Center, the weather and the scale of the disaster are creating challenges for aid teams.

“The weather conditions and the scale of the disaster make it hard for our teams to reach the region,” Koca said, adding “our helicopters could not take off today due to weather conditions.”

Officials and agencies confirmed that at least 4,372 deaths have been confirmed in Turkey and Syria and according to the World Health Organisaton (WHO) the toll could surpass 20,000.

Turkey’s toll rose to 2,921 as of Tuesday morning, according to Yunus Sezer, Turkey’s head of disaster services.

A total of 15,834 injuries have been reported, Sezer said in a news conference in Ankara.

In Syria, 1,451 deaths and 3,531 injuries have been reported by officials, reported CNN.

Magnitude 5.6 earthquake strikes central turkey region, Reuters reports

Britain is sending 76 search-and-rescue specialists with equipment and dogs, as well as an emergency medical team, to Turkey. The UK also says it’s in contact with the UN about getting support to victims in Syria.

Russian rescue teams from the Emergencies Ministry are preparing to fly to Syria, where Russian military deployed in that country already has sent 10 units comprising 300 people to help clear debris and search for survivors. The Russian military has set up points to distribute humanitarian assistance. Russia also has offered help to Turkey, which has been accepted.

Turkish and Syrian disaster response teams report more than 5,600 buildings have been flattened across several cities, including many multi-storey apartment blocks that were filled with sleeping residents when the first quake struck.

The death toll in Turkey from a massive 7.8-magnitude earthquake rose to 2,921, the country’s relief agency AFAD announced Tuesday.

The new count brings the confirmed death toll in Turkey and neighbouring Syria to 4,365, after a quake considered to be the strongest to hit the region in nearly a century.

Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said such a disaster could hit “once in a hundred years” and that his country should be prepared for the death toll to rise.

Oktay also said some 145 aftershocks have been registered following the deadly quake overnight, with three that were larger than 6.0 magnitude.

Diplomats from the 193 member countries of the United Nations have stood in silent tribute to victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria.

General Assembly President Csaba Kőrösi on Monday extended “our deepest sympathy and heartfelt condolences” to the government and people of both countries.

He then asked diplomats “to stand and observe a minute of silence in tribute to the memory of those who lost their lives.” Kőrösi spoke at the start of a meeting to hear Secretary-General Antonio Guterres outline his priorities for 2023.

A magnitude 7.8 earthquake shook Turkey and Syria on Monday, killing more than 3,400 people in the two countries. The death toll is expected to rise as rescuers search through the frigid night. Read here

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said 224 buildings in northwestern Syrian were destroyed and at least 325 were damaged, including aid warehouses. The UN had been assisting 2.7 million people each month via cross-border deliveries, which could now be disrupted.

US President Joe Biden called Erdogan to express condolences and offer assistance to the NATO ally. The White House said it was sending search-and-rescue teams to support Turkey’s efforts.

Rescuers in Turkey and war-ravaged Syria searched through the frigid night into Tuesday, hoping to pull more survivors from the rubble after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake killed more than 4,000 people and toppled thousands of buildings across a wide region, Associated Press reported.

War-ravaged Syria is calling on the United Nations and all member states to help with rescue efforts, health services, shelter and food aid.

The affected area in Syria is divided between government-held territory and the country’s last opposition-held enclave.

Russian rescue teams from the Emergencies Ministry are preparing to fly to Syria, where Russian military deployed in that country already has sent 10 units comprising 300 people to help clear debris and search for survivors.

The Russian military has set up points to distribute humanitarian assistance. Russia also has offered help to Turkey, which has been accepted.

Former Chelsea and Newcastle United player Christian Atsu is reported to be among the many trapped under the rubble after Turkey and Syria were hit by a deadly earthquake in the wee hours on Monday. A search and rescue operation is underway as the country was hit by an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale. Although no official data has been released but it is claimed that over 1000 people lost their lives in the disaster. Read here

The death toll from a strong earthquake in south-eastern Turkey, near Syria’s border, could rise eight-fold, the World Health Organisation has warned.

The toll, which currently stands at more than 3,400 people, has increased rapidly since the first earthquake struck early on Monday morning.

Prisoners mutinied in a northwestern Syria prison Monday following a deadly earthquake, with at least 20 escaping the jail holding mostly Islamic State group members, a source at the facility told AFP. Read more

Ned Price said, “Two rescue and recovery teams constituting 78 individuals will be travelling to Turkey. We are looking at additional funding resources that we have available for both sides. We are going to remain committed to doing what we can do for our Turkish allies and people of Syria.” He said that rescue and recovery teams will be dispatched to Turkey, who will work along with Turkish allies in the rescue and recovery effort.

Turkey has declared seven days of national mourning after earthquakes jolted southern provinces of the country, Anadolu Agency reported citing Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay.

The United States has expressed “deepest condolences” to the people of Turkey and Syria following the earthquakes that jolted the two nations on Monday, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said.

More than 3,800 people have lost their lives and thousands injured after a deadly 7.8 magnitude earthquake ravaged central Turkey and northwest Syria on Monday. Buildings collapsed like a pack of cards, leaving citizens trapped under the rubble in both the countries. Read more