Newsman: A powerful 7.8 pre-dawn earthquake and series of strong aftershocks collapsed thousands of buildings along the Turkish-Syrian border.
The death toll now surpassed 1,900 and was rising Monday. In Syria, the death toll in government-held areas surpassed 430, and 1,000 were injured. Thousands of buildings were reported collapsed from the Syrian cities of Aleppo and Hama to Turkey’s Diyarbakir, more than 200 miles to the northeast.
The Earth Quake were also felt in Egypt and Lebanon .
In Damascus, buildings shook and residents ran into the streets. The quake jolted residents in Lebanon from beds, shaking buildings for about 40 seconds. Many residents of Beirut left their homes, driving their cars away from buildings.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said more than 1,100 people were killed and at least 5,300 injured in his country alone. Erdogan called the quake the biggest disaster since the 1939 Erzincan earthquake that killed more than 30,000 people. The region sits on top of major fault lines and about 18,000 were killed in earthquakes that hit northwest Turkey in 1999.
Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority said at least 78 aftershocks followed the quake.
Rescue workers and residents in multiple cities searched for survivors, working through tangles of metal and giant piles of concrete. A hospital in Turkey collapsed and patients, including newborns, were evacuated from a handful of facilities in Syria.
In ongoing rescue efforts, the Turkish defense ministry released video of a mother and her 2-year-old child being extricated safely from rubble in the city of Gaziantep.
Over 9,000 personnel were carrying out search and rescue operations in Turkey and more support from other regions was on the way, Erdogan said.
“We have started to be contacted for international aid,” he said. “Besides offers of assistance by NATO and the EU, 45 countries have reached out to us.”
The Biden administration issued a statement expressing concern, adding that “we stand ready to provide any and all needed assistance.” President Joe Biden has directed USAID and other federal government agencies to “assess U.S. response options to help those most affected,” coordinating efforts with the Turkish government.
Russia says it is readying rescue teams to fly to Turkey to help earthquake victims there and in neighboring Syria.
Turkey created ‘air aid corridor’ to deliver rescuers to the region.
National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said a large number of military transport planes began to dispatch search and rescue teams and vehicles to the region. Ambulance planes also take part in the “air aid corridor,” Akar said.
“We have maximized the readiness of our aircraft to provide the necessary transportation service,” he said.
Erdogan said he spoke with several mayors who reported almost 3,000 buildings had collapsed. About 2,500 people were pulled from the rubble, he said. Schools across much of the country will be closed for at least one week, and schools closer to the quake for two weeks, officials said.
Turkey Youth and Sports Minister Mehmet Kasapoglu said all national sports have been suspended until further notice.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude 7.8 quake struck at 4:17 a.m. local time. At least 20 aftershocks followed, authorities said. Hours later, a 7.5 magnitude quake struck more than 60 miles away.
In Syria, the Syrian Health Ministry reported in rebel-held areas, more than 380 people were killed, according to Syrian Civil Defense – the White Helmets.
Hundreds were believed trapped under rubble, and the toll was expected to rise as rescue workers dug through the wreckage. Thousands of survivors were left homeless in the cold rain and snow.
The quake struck a region that has been battered on both sides of the border by more than a decade of civil war in Syria. On the Syrian side, the region is divided between government-held territory and the country’s last opposition-held enclave, which is surrounded by Russian-backed government forces. Turkey is home to millions of refugees from that conflict.
About 4 million people live in the opposition-held regions in Syria, many of them displaced from other parts of the country by the fighting. Many of the residential buildings were already unsafe because of bombardments.
