A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Turkey and Syria at dawn on Monday, killing more than a thousand people and destroying many buildings, as residents of Egypt, Lebanon and Cyprus felt.
In Syria, 560 people were killed and hundreds injured as a result of the earthquake, in an indefinite toll, according to the Syrian Ministry of Health and relief teams.
And the official Syrian news agency, SANA, reported, quoting the Ministry of Health, that 339 people were killed and 1,089 injured in government-controlled areas, in a new tool that is being updated successfully.
The White Helmets Organization (Civil Defense in areas outside the control of Damascus) reported that 221 people were killed and 419 injured, indicating that the number is likely to rise.
In Turkey, the death toll from the violent earthquake has risen to 912 and at least 5,385 injured, according to data published by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The earthquake occurred at 4:17 (01:17 GMT) at a depth of about 17.9 kilometers, according to the US Geological Survey.
The epicenter of the earthquake is located in the Pazardik region in the Turkish province of KahramanmaraÅŸ (southeast).
the earthquake of August 17, 1999, which killed 17,000 people, including 1,000 in Istanbul.
28 people were killed in the Turkish province of Adiyaman, where about 100 buildings collapsed, according to its governor.
At least 23 people were killed and 420 injured in Malatya, the governor of this province told public broadcaster TRT.
At least 18 people were killed and 30 others injured in Sanliurfa (southeast), according to the Anadolu Agency, quoting its governor.
At least six others were killed in Diyarbakir, the provincial governor confirmed.
"We heard noises here and there. We think 200 people may be under the rubble," said a rescue worker sent to a destroyed building in Diyarbakir, according to images broadcast by NTV.
According to AFAD, the magnitude of the earthquake, which struck at night, was 7.4 degrees, at a depth of seven kilometers.
Agence France-Presse correspondents said the earthquake was felt in southeastern Turkey, as well as in Lebanon and Cyprus.
Pictures broadcast by the Turkish media showed destroyed buildings in several cities in the southeast of the country, which exacerbates fears that the death toll is much higher than the figures announced so far.
An AFP correspondent in Diyarbakir, a large city in the southeast of the country, saw a collapsed building and rescuers working to extract people from the rubble.
On Twitter, Turkish netizens shared the identities and whereabouts of people trapped under rubble in several cities in the southeast of the country.
Adana Mayor Zeidan Karalar said that two 17-storey and 14-storey buildings were destroyed, according to what was reported by TRT.
"All our teams are on alert. We have issued a level four alert. This is an appeal" for international assistance, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told Haberturk.
statement, "639 injuries - 237 deaths in the governorates of Aleppo, Lattakia, Hama, and Tartous," while the Civil Defense Service in areas under the control of the opposition factions (the White Helmets) spoke of "dozens of victims and hundreds of injured and trapped under the ruble." .
Fifty aftershocks were recorded in Turkey, according to AFAD.
The governor of Gaziantep called on residents to gather outside despite the cold, while the head of the Diyanet, the Religious Affairs Authority, called on Turks in need of help to seek refuge in mosques.
Turkey is located in a region with seismic activity that is among the highest in the world.
In late November, a 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck northwest Turkey, leaving about fifty injured and causing limited damage, according to Turkish ambulance services.
In January 2020, a 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck the Elazig region, killing more than 40 people.
In October of the same year, a 7-magnitude earthquake struck the Aegean Sea, killing 114 people and injuring more than a thousand others.
