Reports making the round states that the devastating earthquakes has now killed more than 5,000 people and toppled buildings in southeast Turkey and northern Syria. This current situation has prompted Turkey’s President Recep Erdogan to declare seven days of national mourning.
Authorities are concerned that the death toll from Monday’s magnitude 7.8 predawn earthquake, followed by a magnitude 7.6 earthquake and a number of aftershocks, will continue to rise as rescuers search for survivors among tangles of metal and concrete in a region that is already experiencing the refugee crisis and Syria’s 12-year civil war.
Throughout the chilly night and into Tuesday morning, rescuers attempted to locate additional survivors among the rubble as trapped individuals cried out for assistance from beneath the mountains of rubble.
On Tuesday, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay stated that 3,419 people had died as a result of the earthquakes in Turkey.
An official with Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority named Orhan Tatar stated earlier on Tuesday that another 20,426 individuals had been injured. Additionally, over 5,700 buildings, according to Tatar, had been destroyed.
The Ministry of Health and the rescue group White Helmets report that at least 1,602 people were killed and approximately 3,500 others were injured in Syria.
The initial earthquake was measured at a depth of 18 kilometers (11 miles) by the US Geological Survey. A 7.6-magnitude earthquake also struck hours later. According to video of the incident, the second jolt caused a multi-story apartment building in the Turkish city of Sanliurfa to fall onto the street in a cloud of dust as bystanders screamed.
An official with Turkey’s disaster management authority, Orhan Tatar, claims that more than 7,800 people have been rescued from 10 provinces. According to rescue workers, overcrowded medical facilities have quickly accommodated injured patients.