The tremor has left 5,385 injured and is the most powerful in decades, the Turkish president has said
Search and rescue operation is being carried out at debris of a building after 7.7 magnitude earthquake hits Turkiyeâs southern provinces, in Iskenderun district of Hatay, Turkiye on February 06, 2023. © Sezgin Pancar / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
A powerful earthquake that hit Türkiye on Monday morning has killed more than 900 people, leaving more than 5,000 wounded, the nation’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.
Speaking in the aftermath of the tragedy, Erdogan said that the 7.7 magnitude earthquake that wreaked havoc in the central part of the country had claimed the lives of 912 people, with 5,385 injured. “2,470 people were rescued from the rubble, and 2,818 buildings were destroyed,” he stated.
The president noted that local authorities “had mobilized all their means,” adding that the response efforts involve not only the ten provinces hit by the disaster, but also ten other regional governors.
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He said that priority had been given to search and rescue efforts aimed at freeing those who are still stuck under the rubble. In total, 9,000 personnel are involved, with this number constantly increasing, Erdogan said.
He went on to describe the tragedy as “the biggest disaster since the 1939 Erzincan earthquake” in eastern Türkiye which killed an estimated 32,000 people and injured 100,000.
The calamity has also hit neighboring Syria, with the nation’s health ministry saying that the death toll has reached 326 people across several provinces, with 1,042 injured.
