HATAY: Aid workers in Turkey and Syria dug with their bare hands on Tuesday night to search for survivors from the rubble of thousands of buildings that collapsed in a series of violent earthquakes.
The confirmed death toll in both countries has exceeded 4,800 after a powerful earthquake hit near the border of Turkey and Syria – the largest of which was a magnitude 7.8.
Meanwhile, a 51-member Pakistani aid team has been dispatched to Istanbul, Federal Minister Saad Rafique said on Twitter.
*دوست ممالک ترکیہ اور شام میں زلزلہ*
— Khawaja Saad Rafique (@KhSaad_Rafique) February 7, 2023
حکومت کی ہدایات پر پی آئی اےکا طیارہ 51 رکنی ریسکیو ٹیم کو لےکر آج دوپہر استنبول پہنچےگا
پی کے 707 پاکستانی ریسکیو ٹیم اور انکےخصوصی آلات کو لے کر لاہور سےاستنبول روانہ ہوگئی
پروازپر امدادی سامان کی ترسیل کیلئےبھی اقدامات مکمل کردیئےگئےہیں pic.twitter.com/tbcGKkWqEi
Disaster response teams in Turkey and Syria reported that more than 5,600 buildings had collapsed in several cities, including several multi-story apartment blocks that were filled with sleeping residents during the first quake.
Eyewitnesses in the southeastern Turkish city of Kahramanmaras struggled to comprehend the scale of the devastation.
“We thought it was the apocalypse,” said Melissa Salman, a 23-year-old reporter. “It was the first time we’ve ever experienced something like this.”
Turkey’s aid agency AFAD said on Tuesday that there had now been 2,921 deaths in the country alone, bringing the confirmed number to 4,365.
Residents search for victims and survivors amid the rubble of collapsed buildings in the Syrian village of Besnia near the Turkish border.
The toll is feared to rise exponentially, with World Health Organization officials estimating that as many as 20,000 could die.
In the Turkish city of Gaziantep, home to countless refugees from Syria’s decades-old civil war, rescuers picking through the rubble screamed, shouted and called for safety as another nearby building collapsed without warning.
The initial quake was big enough to be felt as far away as Greenland, and the impact is big enough to have sparked a global response.
Dozens of countries from Ukraine to New Zealand have pledged to send aid, although freezing rain and sub-zero temperatures have slowed the response.
In the southeastern Turkish city of Sanliurfa, rescue workers were trying to pull survivors from the rubble of a seven-story building that collapsed overnight.
“Underneath the rubble is a family I know,” said 20-year-old Syrian student Omar al-Kanid.
“By 11 a.m. or noon, my friend was still answering the phone. But she doesn’t answer anymore. She’s downstairs.”
Despite freezing temperatures outside, terrified residents spent the night on the streets, huddled around fires for warmth.
Mustafa Kuyonko took his wife and five children into his car, too afraid to move.
“We can’t go home,” the 55-year-old told JEE News. “Everybody’s scared.”
Some of the worst destruction occurred between Kahramanmaras and Gaziantep, near the epicenter, where entire city blocks lay in ruins under accumulated snow.
‘Apocalypse’
The U.S. Geological Survey said Monday’s first quake struck at 4:17 a.m. (0117 GMT) at a depth of about 18 kilometers (11 miles) near the Turkish city of Gaziantep, which is home to about two million people.
The Disaster Management Agency said more than 14,000 people were reported injured in Turkey so far, while at least 3,411 were injured in Syria.
Officials said three major airports have been rendered inoperable, making it difficult to deliver vital aid.
A winter blizzard has covered major roads in the area in snow and ice.
Much of the earthquake-prone region of northern Syria has already been devastated by years of war and aerial bombardment by Syrian and Russian forces that destroyed homes, hospitals and clinics.
The conflict is already shaping an emergency response, with Syria’s UN envoy Bassam Sabbagh apparently refusing to reopen border crossings that would allow aid to reach areas controlled by rebel groups.
Syria’s health ministry reported damage in the provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama and Tartus, where Russia is leasing a naval facility.
Rescue workers search for survivors from the rubble of collapsed buildings in Turkey.
