HATAY, TURKEY/DAMASCUS: Screams from people still trapped in the rubble filled the night early on Tuesday and loved ones mourned their loved ones as the death toll in Turkey and neighboring northwest Syria rose to over 3,700.
The 7.8 magnitude earthquake shook both countries early Monday, toppling entire buildings, destroying hospitals and leaving thousands injured or homeless.
Freezing winter weather hampered search efforts for survivors on Tuesday night.
Under a pile of rubble in the southern province of Hatay, a woman’s voice was heard calling for help. Nearby, the body of a small child lay lifeless.
Crying in the rain, a local resident named Deniz wrung his hands in despair.
“They make noise but no one comes,” he said. “We’re devastated, we’re devastated. My God… They’re screaming. They’re saying, ‘Save us,’ but we can’t save them. How are we going to save them? No one since morning.”
Temperatures fell near zero overnight, worsening conditions for people trapped under rubble or left homeless.
In Kahramanmaras, north of Hatay, entire families gathered around fires and wrapped themselves in blankets to stay warm.
“We barely left the house,” says Neset Guler, huddled around the fire with her four children. “Our situation is a disaster. We are hungry, we are thirsty. It is miserable.”
The earthquake, which was followed by a series of aftershocks, was the largest recorded worldwide by the US Geological Survey since an earthquake in the distant South Atlantic in August 2021.
In Turkey, the death toll stands at 2,316, the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said, making it the country’s deadliest quake since an earthquake of magnitude similar in 1999 which killed more than 17,000 people. More than 13,000 people are believed to have been injured in Monday’s earthquake.
At least 1,444 people have been killed in Syria and around 3,500 injured, according to figures from the government in Damascus and relief workers from the insurgent-controlled northwest region.
Poor internet connections and damaged roads between some of southern Turkey’s worst-hit cities, home to millions, have hampered efforts to assess and address the impact.
Turkish President Tayip Erdoganbracing for a tough election in May, called the quake a historic disaster and said authorities were doing all they could.
“Everyone puts their heart and soul into their efforts, even if the winter season, the cold and the earthquake that occurs during the night make things more difficult,” he said. He said 45 countries had offered to help search and rescue efforts.
In the Turkish town of Iskenderun, rescuers climbed over a huge pile of debris that was once part of a public hospital’s intensive care unit in search of survivors. Health workers did what they could to deal with the new wave of injured patients.
“We have a patient who had surgery but we don’t know what happened,” said Tulin, a woman in her 30s, standing outside the hospital, wiping away tears and praying.
In Syria, the effects of the earthquake were compounded by the destruction of more than 11 years of civil war.
A senior UN humanitarian official said fuel shortages and harsh winter weather were also creating obstacles to his response.
“The infrastructure is damaged, the roads we were using for relief work are damaged, we have to be creative in how to reach people…but we are working hard,” the resident coordinator of the IHA told Reuters. UN, El-Mostafa Benlamlih. in an interview via video link from Damascus.
In the government-controlled city of Aleppo, footage on Twitter showed two nearby buildings collapsing one after another, filling the streets with puffy dust.
Two residents of the town, which was heavily damaged by the war, said buildings had fallen within hours of the quake, which was felt as far away as Cyprus and Lebanon.
Raed al-Saleh of the Syrian White Helmets, a rescue service in rebel-held territory known for extracting people from the ruins of buildings destroyed by airstrikes, said they were engaged in “a race against time to save the lives of those under the rubble”. .”
The 7.8 magnitude earthquake shook both countries early Monday, toppling entire buildings, destroying hospitals and leaving thousands injured or homeless.
Freezing winter weather hampered search efforts for survivors on Tuesday night.
Under a pile of rubble in the southern province of Hatay, a woman’s voice was heard calling for help. Nearby, the body of a small child lay lifeless.
Crying in the rain, a local resident named Deniz wrung his hands in despair.
“They make noise but no one comes,” he said. “We’re devastated, we’re devastated. My God… They’re screaming. They’re saying, ‘Save us,’ but we can’t save them. How are we going to save them? No one since morning.”
Temperatures fell near zero overnight, worsening conditions for people trapped under rubble or left homeless.
In Kahramanmaras, north of Hatay, entire families gathered around fires and wrapped themselves in blankets to stay warm.
“We barely left the house,” says Neset Guler, huddled around the fire with her four children. “Our situation is a disaster. We are hungry, we are thirsty. It is miserable.”
The earthquake, which was followed by a series of aftershocks, was the largest recorded worldwide by the US Geological Survey since an earthquake in the distant South Atlantic in August 2021.
In Turkey, the death toll stands at 2,316, the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said, making it the country’s deadliest quake since an earthquake of magnitude similar in 1999 which killed more than 17,000 people. More than 13,000 people are believed to have been injured in Monday’s earthquake.
At least 1,444 people have been killed in Syria and around 3,500 injured, according to figures from the government in Damascus and relief workers from the insurgent-controlled northwest region.
Poor internet connections and damaged roads between some of southern Turkey’s worst-hit cities, home to millions, have hampered efforts to assess and address the impact.
Turkish President Tayip Erdoganbracing for a tough election in May, called the quake a historic disaster and said authorities were doing all they could.
“Everyone puts their heart and soul into their efforts, even if the winter season, the cold and the earthquake that occurs during the night make things more difficult,” he said. He said 45 countries had offered to help search and rescue efforts.
In the Turkish town of Iskenderun, rescuers climbed over a huge pile of debris that was once part of a public hospital’s intensive care unit in search of survivors. Health workers did what they could to deal with the new wave of injured patients.
“We have a patient who had surgery but we don’t know what happened,” said Tulin, a woman in her 30s, standing outside the hospital, wiping away tears and praying.
In Syria, the effects of the earthquake were compounded by the destruction of more than 11 years of civil war.
A senior UN humanitarian official said fuel shortages and harsh winter weather were also creating obstacles to his response.
“The infrastructure is damaged, the roads we were using for relief work are damaged, we have to be creative in how to reach people…but we are working hard,” the resident coordinator of the IHA told Reuters. UN, El-Mostafa Benlamlih. in an interview via video link from Damascus.
In the government-controlled city of Aleppo, footage on Twitter showed two nearby buildings collapsing one after another, filling the streets with puffy dust.
Two residents of the town, which was heavily damaged by the war, said buildings had fallen within hours of the quake, which was felt as far away as Cyprus and Lebanon.
Raed al-Saleh of the Syrian White Helmets, a rescue service in rebel-held territory known for extracting people from the ruins of buildings destroyed by airstrikes, said they were engaged in “a race against time to save the lives of those under the rubble”. .”
