Monday, 6 February 2023
One of Turkey’s largest earthquake’s on record, measuring 7.8 has killed at least 2000 people with the death toll set to rise further as rescue workers scramble to pull survivors from the rubble. The quake happened in the early hours of Monday morning near Gaziantep at a depth of nearly. The area is located close to, or at the edge of numerous tectonic plates which sent powerful shock waves felt in Cyprus, Lebanon and Israel. Reports sent to LGC News describe residents in a number of towns feeling the ground rumble or vibrate under their feet. Prime Minister Ünal Üstel stated that after the quake, the epicenter of which was in the Pazarcık district of Kahramanmaraş and affecting 10 provinces in total, that the government will send 8 specially equipped vehicles with a 30-person civil defence team to Turkey.
Rescue efforts are being slowed by poor weather with below freezing temperatures and severe aftershocks which can cause already weakened structures to collapse.
“My 12 year old daughter ran into our bedroom to wake us up, saying she felt thunder in the floor” reported one reader based in Gazimagusa (Famagusta).
A government health official in Syria reports that 240 people have been killed and hundreds more injured by the event which happened close to the countries border with Turkey. That figure will likely continue to rise over the coming hours and days.
Kahramanmaraş merkezli meydana gelen deprem sonrası bölgedeki afetzede vatandaşlarımıza yardım için Millî Savunma Bakanlığı ve Sağlık Bakanlığından görevlendirilen sağlık personeli, 2 adet Askerî Ambulans uçağımız ile Ankara’dan bölgeye hareket etti.#MSB pic.twitter.com/6yw0dvfG1E
— T.C. Millî Savunma Bakanlığı (@tcsavunma) February 6, 2023
The Ministry of National Defence, or MSB has announced that it is sending two military ambulance planes which set off from Ankara in the last hour.
Turkey lies in a seismically active zone between the Eurasian Plate and African and Arabian plates. The majority of Turkey is situated on the Anatolian Plate, which is divided by two large fault zones which have been responsible for many quakes in the region. As recently as 30th of October 20202, Izmir was subject to a quake measuring 7.0 where 117 people lost their lives.
