{"id":284513,"date":"2023-02-07T07:08:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-07T07:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/haftavasool.com\/haftavasool\/blog\/2023\/02\/07\/over-4800-dead-in-turkey-syria-quake-we-thought-it-was-the-apocalypse\/"},"modified":"2023-02-07T07:08:00","modified_gmt":"2023-02-07T07:08:00","slug":"over-4800-dead-in-turkey-syria-quake-we-thought-it-was-the-apocalypse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/haftavasool.com\/haftavasool\/blog\/2023\/02\/07\/over-4800-dead-in-turkey-syria-quake-we-thought-it-was-the-apocalypse\/","title":{"rendered":"Over 4,800 Dead In Turkey, Syria Quake: &#8220;We Thought It Was The Apocalypse&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/c.ndtvimg.com\/2023-02\/3olp75mg_turkey-earthquake_625x300_07_February_23.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<div itemprop=\"articleBody\" id=\"ins_storybody\"><!-- \n\n<div itemprop=\"articleBody\" class=\"sp-cn ins_storybody\" id=\"ins_storybody\">--><\/p>\n<div class=\"ins_instory_dv\"><span itemprop=\"video\" itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/VideoObject\"><meta itemprop=\"headline\" content=\"Over 4,300 Dead In Turkey, Syria Quake: &quot;We Thought It Was The Apocalypse&quot;\"\/><meta itemprop=\"name\" content=\"Over 4,300 Dead In Turkey, Syria Quake: &quot;We Thought It Was The Apocalypse&quot;\"\/><meta itemprop=\"description\" content=\"Over 4,300 Dead In Turkey, Syria Quake: &quot;We Thought It Was The Apocalypse&quot;\"\/><meta itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/c.ndtvimg.com\/2023-02\/3olp75mg_turkey-earthquake_625x300_07_February_23.jpg\"\/><meta itemprop=\"uploadDate\" content=\"2023-02-07T12:38:26+05:30\"\/><meta itemprop=\"embedUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ndtv.com\/video\/embed-player\/?id=680960&amp;category=embed&amp;autostart=1&amp;pWidth=650&amp;pHeight=403&amp;embed_type=story&amp;mute=1&amp;autostart=1&amp;mutestart=true&amp;ctitle=1&amp;miniplayer=1&amp;cache=2022\"\/><meta itemprop=\"ContentUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/ndtvod.pc.cdn.bitgravity.com\/23372\/ndtv\/07022023_n_TurkeyQuake_202636_739415_320.mp4\"\/><meta itemprop=\"duration\" content=\"T2M52S\"\/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"videoembed\" class=\"videembedload\" src=\"https:\/\/c.ndtvimg.com\/2023-02\/3olp75mg_turkey-earthquake_625x300_07_February_23.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.ndtv.com\/video\/embed-player\/?id=680960&amp;category=embed&amp;autostart=1&amp;pWidth=650&amp;pHeight=403&amp;embed_type=story&amp;mute=1&amp;autostart=1&amp;mutestart=true&amp;ctitle=1&amp;miniplayer=1&amp;cache=2022\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" style=\"border:none; overflow:hidden; width:100%; height:403px; padding-bottom: 0px;padding-left:0px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"ins_instory_dv_caption sp_b\">Multi-storey apartment buildings full of residents were among the structures reduced to rubble<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><b class=\"place_cont\">Hatay, Turkey: <\/b><\/p>\n<p>Rescuers in Turkey and Syria braved freezing darkness, aftershocks and collapsing buildings Tuesday, as they dug for survivors buried by a string of earthquakes that killed at least 4,800 people.<\/p>\n<p>Disaster agencies said several thousand buildings were flattened in cities across a vast border region &#8212; pouring misery on an area already plagued by war, insurgency, refugee crises and a recent cholera outbreak.<\/p>\n<p>Through the night, survivors used their bare hands to pick over the twisted ruins of multi-storey apartment blocks &#8212; trying to save family, friends and anyone else sleeping inside when the first massive 7.8-magnitude quake struck early Monday.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Where is my mum?&#8221; asked a distraught seven-year-old girl who was pulled &#8212; her face, hair and pyjamas covered in dust &#8212; from a collapsed building in Hatay, on the Turkish side of the border.<\/p>\n<p>The sense of disbelief was widespread, as residents struggled to comprehend the scale of the disaster.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We thought it was the apocalypse,&#8221; said Melisa Salman, a 23-year-old reporter in the southeastern Turkish city of Kahramanmaras.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the heaviest devastation occurred near the quake&#8217;s epicentre between Kahramanmaras and Gaziantep, a city of two million where entire blocks now lie in ruins under gathering snow.<\/p>\n<p>As residents tried to clear a mountain of masonry, plasterboard and furniture that had been a multi-story building, another collapsed nearby &#8212; sending crowds screaming and clamouring for safety.<\/p>\n<p>With aftershocks continuously rattling the area, many terrified and exhausted survivors spent the night outdoors, too afraid to go home.<\/p>\n<p>Some huddled under bus shelters, some wrapped themselves in plastic to repel the freezing rain and others burned debris to keep warm.<\/p>\n<p>Mustafa Koyuncu packed his wife and their five children into their parked car.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We can&#8217;t go home,&#8221; the 55-year-old told AFP. &#8220;Everyone is afraid.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Turkey&#8217;s relief agency AFAD put the latest death toll at 3,381 in that country alone &#8212; bringing the confirmed tally in both Turkey and Syria to 4,890.<\/p>\n<p>There are fears that the toll will rise inexorably, with World Health Organization officials estimating up to 20,000 may have died.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There is a family I know under the rubble,&#8221; said 20-year-old student Omer El Cuneyd in the Turkish city of Sanliurfa.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Until 11:00 am or noon, my friend was still answering the phone. But she no longer answers. She is down there.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Overwhelmed medics struggled to treat the estimated 20,000 injured.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; All and any &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>The US Geological Survey said Monday&#8217;s first earthquake struck at 4:17 am (0117 GMT) at a depth of about 18 kilometres (11 miles).<\/p>\n<p>The initial earthquake was so powerful it was felt as far away as Greenland and was followed by a series of aftershocks, including a 7.5-magnitude tremor that struck in the middle of search and rescue work on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>The impact was devastating and sparked a global response, with dozens of nations from Ukraine to New Zealand vowing to send help.<\/p>\n<p>But a winter blizzard has covered major roads into the area in ice and snow and officials said three major airports have been rendered inoperable, complicating deliveries of vital aid.<\/p>\n<p>Much of the quake-hit area of northern Syria has already been decimated by years of war and aerial bombardment by Syrian and Russia forces that destroyed homes, hospitals and clinics.<\/p>\n<p>The conflict is already shaping the emergency response, with Syria&#8217;s envoy to the United Nations Bassam Sabbagh seemingly ruling out reopening border crossings that would allow aid to reach areas controlled by rebel groups.<\/p>\n<p>The Syrian health ministry reported damage across the provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama and Tartus, where Russia is leasing a naval facility.<\/p>\n<p>Even before the tragedy, buildings in Aleppo &#8212; Syria&#8217;s pre-war commercial hub &#8212; often collapsed due to the dilapidated infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p>Officials cut off natural gas and power supplies across the region as a precaution, and also closed schools for two weeks.<\/p>\n<p>The UN cultural agency UNESCO expressed fears over heavy damage in two cities on its heritage list &#8212; Aleppo in Syria and Diyarbakir in Turkey.<\/p>\n<p>At a jail holding mostly Islamic State group members in northwestern Syria, prisoners mutinied after the quakes, with at least 20 escaping, a source at the facility told AFP.<\/p>\n<p>The United States, the European Union and Russia all immediately sent condolences and offers of help.<\/p>\n<p>President Joe Biden promised his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan that the United States will send &#8220;any and all&#8221; aid needed to help recover from a devastating earthquake.<\/p>\n<p>Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also offered to provide &#8220;the necessary assistance&#8221; to Turkey, whose combat drones are helping Kyiv fight the Russian invasion.<\/p>\n<p>Chinese state media said on Tuesday that Beijing was sending rescuers, medical teams and other supplies.<\/p>\n<p>Turkey is in one of the world&#8217;s most active earthquake zones.<\/p>\n<p>The country&#8217;s last 7.8-magnitude tremor was in 1939, when 33,000 died in the eastern Erzincan province.<\/p>\n<p>The Turkish region of Duzce suffered a 7.4-magnitude earthquake in 1999, when more than 17,000 people died.<\/p>\n<p>Experts have long warned a large quake could devastate Istanbul, a megalopolis of 16 million people filled with rickety homes.<\/p>\n<p><i>(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ndtv.com\/world-news\/over-3-800-killed-after-3-catastrophic-earthquakes-hit-turkey-syria-3759495\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] Multi-storey apartment buildings full of residents were among the structures reduced to rubble Hatay, Turkey: Rescuers in Turkey and Syria braved freezing darkness, aftershocks and collapsing buildings Tuesday, as they dug for survivors buried by a string of earthquakes that killed at least 4,800 people. Disaster agencies said several thousand buildings were flattened in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":284514,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[345829,345514,150,345490,345515,16013,345828,132823,345496,20115,345513,146232,196],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/haftavasool.com\/haftavasool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284513"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/haftavasool.com\/haftavasool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/haftavasool.com\/haftavasool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/haftavasool.com\/haftavasool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/haftavasool.com\/haftavasool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/haftavasool.com\/haftavasool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284513\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/haftavasool.com\/haftavasool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/haftavasool.com\/haftavasool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/haftavasool.com\/haftavasool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/haftavasool.com\/haftavasool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}