7.8 Richter killed hundreds of people in Turkey and Syria, who were swept from their homes while they slept
The powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake that hit southeastern Turkey in the early hours of today killed hundreds of people in Turkey and Syria, who were swept out of their homes while they were sleeping.
The epicenter was in Pazardzhik district, Kahramanmaras province (southeast), about 60 km from the Syrian border as the crow flies.
The country’s disaster management agency (AFAD) said about 1,800 buildings had collapsed, mainly in Gaziantep, Diyarbakır, Adana, Sanliurfa and the city of Kahramanmaras.
Indicative of the absolute destruction is a video from the main street of Kahramanmaras, in which the city can be seen flattened.
WATCH: Daylight reveals massive destruction in KahramanmaraÅŸ, Turkey pic.twitter.com/YZD1J4iYfc
— BNO News Live (@BNODesk) February 6, 2023
In Iskenderun and Antiyaman, public hospitals were evacuated due to the earthquake, which occurred overnight at 04:17 (local time; 03:17 Greek time), and had a focal depth of 17.9 kilometers, according to the American seismological institute USGS .
New aftermath video from #Kahramanmaras
Death toll #Update from #Turkey–#Syria #earthquake rises to 305, more than 1,400 injured#deprem #Idlib #Syria #DEPREMOLDU #TurkeyEarthquake pic.twitter.com/bUuzwgWpW0— Chaudhary Parvez (@ChaudharyParvez) February 6, 2023
Today’s earthquake is the strongest recorded in Turkey since August 17, 1999, which killed at least 17,000 people, including about a thousand residents of Istanbul.
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