Daily Sabah – February 6, 2023
Death toll rises to 2,921 after magnitude 7.7 quake rocks SE Türkiye
By Daily Sabah with agencies
At least 2,921 people died Monday in Türkiye when two major earthquakes and 185 aftershocks struck the southeast of the country, officials said.
Vice President Fuat Oktay said 2,921 people were killed and 15,834 others were injured following the earthquakes, which were felt in 11 provinces, including Malatya, Şanlıurfa, Osmaniye and Diyarbakır, although the toll threatened to climb much higher because of the heavy damage.
According to the country's disaster agency, the strong earthquakes originated in the southern province of Kahramanmaraş.
Türkiye’s Disaster and 
Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said the 7.7 magnitude quake struck at 4.17 a.m. (1:17 a.m. GMT) and was centered in the Pazarcık district.
The quake occurred at a depth of 7 kilometers (4.3 miles).
It was followed by a 6.4 magnitude quake that struck southeastern Gaziantep province.
A third earthquake with a 6.5 magnitude also hit Gaziantep.
The initial earthquake was also felt in other southeastern provinces, including Diyarbakır and neighboring countries including Lebanon and Syria.
President Erdoğan said that Türkiye was shaken by the biggest disaster since the 1939 Erzincan earthquake in the last century. [1]
"The earthquake caused destruction in Kahramanmaraş, as well as in Hatay, Gaziantep, Kilis, Osmaniye, Malatya, Adıyaman, Diyarbakır, Şanlıurfa, Adana provinces,'' Erdoğan noted.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu also said that six earthquakes with a magnitude above 6.0 hit the country early Monday.
Western Syria
A powerful earthquake killed dozens and injured hundreds in northern and western Syria early on Monday, state media said, as rescue teams battled heavy rain and sleet in a search for survivors in the rubble of collapsed buildings.
More than 783 people were killed and thousands injured in the Syrian regions of Aleppo, Hama and Latakia, the state news agency (SANA) said.
Syrian civil defense in opposition-held northwestern Idlib said the quake killed tens of people and injured hundreds in the areas where it operates.
"No official numbers yet but dozens reported dead and hundreds injured, many trapped under the rubble," the force, known as the White Helmets, said in a Twitter message.
Several buildings in the affected areas had already endured damage during Syria's nearly 12-year civil war.
https://www.dailysabah.com/turkey/death-toll-rises-to-2921-after-magnitude-77-quake-rocks-se-turkiye/news
[1] Turkey is among the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. More than 17,000 people were killed in 1999 when a 7.6-magnitude quake struck İzmit, a city southeast of Istanbul. In 2011, a quake in the eastern city of Van killed more than 500. [Duvar English]
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