More than 1,500 dead from the quake: at least 912 in Turkey and 592 in Syria

The strong earthquake of magnitude 7.7 that shook Turkey this morning has left more than 1,500 dead, at least 912 dead and more than 5,300 injured in that country alone, to which are added another 592 fatalities in Syrian territory, various sources reported.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was in charge of announcing the latest balance of deaths and injuries in Turkey, although due to the fact that the rescue work is underway he did not want to give a total number of possible victims.

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”It is the second strongest since the 1939 Erzincan earthquake. According to the latest assessments it is 7.7. There is serious damage also in neighboring areas of Syria”, said the Turkish president, confirming that there have been landslides or serious damage to more than 2,800 homes and that 2,470 people have been rescued alive from the rubble.

The low temperatures and the snow in the area, where there are also mountainous territories that are difficult to access, complicate the rescue tasks.

In Syria, embroiled in more than a decade of civil war, the affected area is divided between territory controlled by Bashar al-Assad’s government and the last opposition-controlled enclave of the country, which is surrounded by Russian-backed government forces.

Thus, the earthquake has left at least 592 dead and 1,508 injured in Syrian territory, including 371 deaths and 1,089 injuries registered in areas in the hands of Damascus in the northwestern provinces of Tartus, Latakia, Hama and Aleppo, according to the official news agency. FURY.

On the other hand, in the northwestern province of Idlib, the last opposition stronghold in the country, and in other parts of neighboring Aleppo that also escape the control of Damascus, another 221 fatalities and 419 additional injuries have been recorded, according to the report. White Helmets rescue group.

These opposition areas border Turkey and are closer to the epicenter, so the difference in the balance could be due to their lesser ability to coordinate the count as there is no single government authority in charge of rescue operations.

Tremors at many points

The shock brought thousands of people out of bed at 1:17 GMT on both sides of the border, with the quake knocking down buildings in a vast area of ​​hundreds of kilometers stretching from northern Syria, from cities like Aleppo to the southeast. Turkey, where the largest Turkish city in the region, Diyarbakir, has been affected.

The quake was also strongly felt in Lebanon, including Beirut.

The epicenter was found in Pazarcik in the province of Kahramanmaras, according to the Turkish emergency service Afad, although the Kandilli seismic observatory locates it in Sofalici, in the neighboring province of Gaziantep, about 40 kilometers further south.

The force of the earthquake placed it at 7.8 by the United States Geological Survey, while Afad establishes it at 7.7.

One of the symbols of the enormous destruction of the quake is the historic Roman castle of Gaziantep, which had stood for more than 1,700 years and has been leveled by the tremor.

Source: EFE