More than 4300 die in Turkey and Syria Earthquake

The devastating earthquake of the 7.8 magnitude hit Turkey and Syria on Monday and caused massive destruction in its wake. As per the US Geological Survey, the first earthquake struck early morning on Monday near the Turkish city of Gaziantep, which is home to around two million people. So far more than 14,000 people in Turkey and 3,411 Syrian people have been reported injured. The rescue operations are still ongoing to rescue the people stuck under the rubble of collapsed buildings in Turkey and Syria. The number of collapsed buildings in both the countries have been reported to be around 5,600.

It is also being reported that continuous rain and winter blizzard in Turkey and Syria is making the rescue missions extremely difficult. Since the earthquake happened in the wee hours of the morning, many collapsed buildings were filled sleeping residents that are now stuck under the rubble.

Turkish Interior Minister Suleymon Soylu said 10 cities were affected: Gaziantep, Kahramanmaras, Hatay, Osmaniye, Adiyaman, Malatya, Sanliurfa, Adana, Diyarbakir and Kilis.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tweeted. “I convey my best wishes to all our citizens who were affected by the earthquake. We hope that we will get through this disaster together as soon as possible and with the least damage.”

The Syrian health ministry reported damage across the provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama and Tartus.

As soon as the news of this calamity broke, many countries came forward to offer their condolences and help.

United States President Joe Biden promised to send “any and all” aid needed to help recover from a devastating earthquake.

Pakistan PM Shahbaz Sharif is leaving for Turkey to meet President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday. He took to Twitter and wrote, “24 hours after the devastating earthquake hit Turkiye & Syria, scenes of death and destruction are mind numbing. It breaks the heart to witness sheer scale of unfolding human tragedy.”

Pakistan has also sent a plane carrying a search and rescue team along with relief goods to Turkey

This calamity is reported to be Turkey’s most severe earthquake since 1999 where more than 17,000 had lost their lives.