Turkey-Syria earthquakes latest updates: Six killed, many injured
The magnitude 6.3 quake was felt by residents in Syria, Israel, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine.
This live blog is closed, thanks for joining us. These were the updates on the Turkey-Syria earthquake on Tuesday, February 21:
This live blog is closed, thanks for joining us. These were the updates on the Turkey-Syria earthquake on Tuesday, February 21:
- New earthquakes on Monday in Turkey and Syria have killed at least six people.
- The biggest of those, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake, struck the southern Turkish province of Hatay and northern Syria.
- The head of Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority says 294 people were injured.
- The epicentre was in the district of Samandagi in Turkey, according to Turkish monitor Kandilli, but it was felt in Syria, Israel, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine, according to media reports.
- Syria’s state news agency reported six people were injured in Aleppo from falling debris, while the mayor of Hatay said a number of buildings had collapsed, trapping people inside.
You can find information on how to donate to earthquake relief efforts here.
Syrians suffering from lack of basic necessities
Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar reporting from the Al Hammam crossing near the Syrian city of Afrin said people continued to suffer from a lack of clean water and electricity weeks after the devastating earthquakes.
“Particularly for children, its quite difficult. The rescue efforts [in Syria] have not been adequate,” he added.
Read more on the earthquakes here.
No way to determine when aftershocks will end: Academic
Ziyadin Cakir from Turkey’s Istanbul Technical University says there is no tool or scientific methodology to determine when earthquakes or aftershocks will come to end in the country.
“Aftershocks and other earthquakes like yesterday may not only occur in the same areas, but also take place elsewhere like in Malatya [in the north] where there are faults – on which stress increased from these massive earthquakes. Its a huge crisis and its not over yet,” he said from Istanbul.
Dozens of buildings destroyed: AJ correspondent
Al Jazeera’s Sami Zeidan, reporting for Samandagi in southeastern Turkey, said at least 28 buildings had collapsed since the latest strong earthquake, according to officials figures.
Authorities said there were 90 aftershocks after that, Zeidan added.
‘Sympathy not exhausted’ for quake victims, says Germany minister
Two German government ministers have visited the quake-hit Turkey-Syria border region and pledged support in aid and reconstruction efforts.
“Our sympathy is not exhausted in words and it will not diminish when the catastrophe and its consequences are replaced by other headlines
in the news,” foreign minister Annalena Baerbock promised during the joint visit with interior minister Nancy Faeser.
Faeser assured of Germany’s “deeply felt solidarity” in the face of the disaster. “The survivors, who have lost everything, need winter-proof shelters quickly,” she said before departing for the visit.
Baerbock and Faeser plan to visit the city of Gaziantep, where they hope to meet aid workers and non-governmental organisations working
in Turkey and Syria.
New quakes add ‘more misery’
Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride, reporting from Defne, said Monday’s earthquakes were “adding more misery and suffering to an area and people that have already suffered so much”.
“It happened at a time when people were coming back to buildings that are already been damaged and have been sifting through what used to be their homes looking for possessions,” he said.
“People who were once living out in the streets under tents were again outside reliving all of the trauma of living through earthquakes … so it is an incredible concern for everybody who is here, trying to rebuild their lives.”
Why is Turkey’s death toll so high?
Close Up: Buried alive in Turkey’s earthquake
“Is there anyone out there,” Hatice remembers calling out as she lay amid the rubble shortly after the February 6 earthquakes hit her region of Kahramanmaras in southern Turkey.
“Don’t waste your breath, my daughter,” she recalls her husband telling their daughter. He was in an equal state of confinement next to her. “No one hears us, my love. They’re not coming, my love. We’re stuck!” he would cry.
Luckily, someone did hear them.
In this Close Up episode, Al Jazeera followed rescue worker Tunc Cokkeser and his teammates who worked to save people like Hatice.
Six reported dead in Turkey: AFAD
The head of Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency says 294 people have been injured in the new earthquakes.
“May God have mercy on our citizens who lost their lives. I wish a speedy recovery to our wounded,” he tweeted.
“Our search and rescue efforts in the region continue uninterrupted.”
WHO chief ‘concerned’ about new quakes
World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says he is “concerned about ongoing tremors” in Turkey and Syria.
“WHO teams are supporting health workers and mobile clinics in both countries with medical supplies so they can offer immediate care to everyone in need,” he posted on Twitter.
People ‘scared’ in Syria’s Idlib following new quakes: Activist
Syrian activist Abdul Kafi al-Hamdo and resident of the rebel-held region of Idlib in northwest Syria said most people have been staying away from weak buildings.
“All the people here are not safe from anything. They don’t trust anything even if their buildings are very strong,” he told Al Jazeera from Idlib.
“People are scared by the nights. We will have this problem for a long time.”
Collapse of buildings reported in Syria: AJ correspondent
Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut, said there were reports that some buildings in northwest Syria and in government-controlled Aleppo that were damaged in the February 6 earthquake have collapsed.
“We’re not getting any reports of serious injuries,” she added.
“Most of the people who were affected two weeks ago are now living in tents outdoors. In footage or videos emerging from that region, you can see people in cars and in the streets. People are frightened, they are panicking.”
Authorities warn not to go into buildings: AJ correspondent
Al Jazeera’s Assed Baig, reporting from Antakya, Turkey, said two bodies were recovered from a collapsed building, while a third man was rescued.
“We understand that four men had gone into the building to recover some belongings. Authorities had warned not to go into the buildings but nobody really expected another earthquake of the magnitude that we’ve seen,” Baig said.
Watch the moment another 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey’s Hatay Province on Monday, sending panic through the region already devastated by powerful quakes earlier this month ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/41FftXoU1W
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) February 20, 2023
Photos: Turkey-Syria border area struck by new quakes
Infographic: Turkey, Syria hit by new earthquakes
Three killed in new earthquakes near Turkey-Syria border
Three people were killed after two new earthquakes struck the border region of Turkey and Syria, two weeks after a larger quake killed more than 47,000 people and damaged or destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes across both countries.
Monday’s 6.3 magnitude earthquake was centred near the southern Turkish city of Antakya and was felt in Syria, Egypt and Lebanon.
It struck at a depth of 10km (6.2 miles), the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said.
Read Monday’s earthquake updates here.