Rescue workers battle to save survivors after earthquakes kill over 5,000 in Turkey and Syria

The rescue work continued throughout the night in the hope of pulling out more survivors after a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake and many big aftershocks killed over 5,000 people in Turkey and Syria.

A massive earthquake hit southeast Turkey and Syria early on Monday (February 6), causing huge destruction and loss of lives. While the rescue operations were still on, another huge tremor of 7.5 magnitude hit Central Turkey.

East Anatolian Fault behind devastating Turkey earthquake. What you need to know

The aftershocks continued with a 5.8 quake, followed by a 5.7 and then another one of 6.0 magnitude in Central Turkey, reported USGS.

Death toll in Turkey and Syria: 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. That brought the number of people killed to 5,102, with another 1,602 people confirmed dead on the Syrian side of the border.

• Over 3,400 people were killed in 10 Turkish provinces, with more than 20,000 injured, according to the latest figures from Turkish authorities on Tuesday.
• The death toll in government-held areas of Syria climbed to 769 people, with some 1,450 injured, according to the Health Ministry. In the country’s rebel-held northwest, groups that operate there said at least 450 people died, with many hundreds injured.
• There are fears that the toll will rise, with World Health Organization officials estimating up to 20,000 may have died.

The quakes: The US Geological Survey measured Monday's quake at 7.8, with a depth of 18 kilometers. Hours later, a 7.5 magnitude quake, likely triggered by the first, struck more than 100 kilometers away.

Animated map of seismicity near Turkey quakes starting ~3am local time plotting Feb 6 M7.8 mainshock (pink), early aftershocks (orange), M7.5 aftershock to the north (tan), and subsequent aftershocks in the north (tan). Time vs. magnitude progression shown on bottom graph. pic.twitter.com/TTa7qdZWzO

— USGS Earthquakes (@USGS_Quakes) February 7, 2023

• The second jolt caused a multistory apartment building in the Turkish city of Sanliurfa to topple onto the street in a cloud of dust as bystanders screamed, according to video of the scene.

Rescue work: Freezing cold, snow and rain have hampered search efforts for survivors in both Turkey and Syria. One man in Hatay, a province in Turkey's south, wept in the rain as he described to Reuters the agonising wait for rescuers. "They're making noises but nobody is coming," Deniz said, at times wringing his hands in despair.

• In the Turkish city of Gaziantep, a provincial capital about 33 kilometers from the epicentre, people took refuge in shopping malls, stadiums, mosques, and community centers.
• In war-torn Syria, the situation was even worse. In the rebel-held enclave, hundreds of families remained trapped in the rubble, the opposition emergency organisation known as the White Helmets said in a statement. The area is packed with some 4 million people displaced from other parts of the country by the war. Strained medical centers quickly filled with injured people, rescue workers said.

International aid: Promises of aid have poured in from the European Union, NATO, the United States, Japan, India, the UK, the Gulf states, Russia, ,Iran and many other countries after Turkey and Syria were devastated by the quake.

• US President Joe Biden promised his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday that the United States will send "any and all" aid needed to help recover from a devastating earthquake.
• The 1st batch of earthquake relief material was dispatched from India to Turkey, along with NDRF search and rescue teams, specially trained dog squads, medical supplies, drilling machines and other necessary equipment.
• South Korea's President Yoon Suk-yeol has issued an order to send rescue workers and emergency medical items to Turkey.

7 days of national mourning: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared seven days of national mourning. In a message (in Turkish) posted on Twitter, Erdogan said flags will be hoisted at half-mast at all Turkish government buildings, including embassies and consulates abroad, until sunset on Sunday, February 12.

• Erdogan said it is the biggest disaster the country has experienced in the last century. "We've taken prompt action, mobilised rescue units in all affected provinces. In addition to NATO & EU, we received aid offers from 45 countries," Erdogan said.

Quake-prone area: Turkey sits on top of major fault lines and is frequently shaken by earthquakes. At least 18,000 people were killed in powerful earthquakes that hit northwest Turkey in 1999. In October of that same year, a magnitude-7.0 quake hit the Aegean Sea, killing 114 people and wounding more than 1,000.