edited by: Shankhneel Sarkar
Last Update: February 06, 2023, 15:30 IST
Firefighters carry the body of a victim in Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkey (Image: AP Photo)
In Gaziantep, Turkey, residents say those whose houses are intact are afraid to enter their homes. Most of the residents are inside their cars and have moved to open spaces
Residents of the Turkish city of Gaziantep said they have experienced nothing like the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck their city on Monday morning.
Gaziantep, Adana and Diyarbakir witnessed one of the most powerful earthquakes to hit the country in nearly two and a half decades.
In Turkey, the official news agency anadolu agency He said that more than 284 people have been killed and the number of injured has crossed the 2,300 mark. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the death toll in Syria had crossed 320. BBC,
The rescue workers have to face difficulties due to cold weather and freezing temperature. Significantly, there was snowfall in most parts of Turkey on Sunday evening.
talking to BBC And this GuardianA resident of Gaziantep said he felt like a baby being rocked in a cradle.
More than 480 kilometers away, another resident of the Syrian capital, Damascus, said paintings fell from the walls inside his house.
The situation is far more dire in rebel-held areas of Syria. In its report, Al Jazeera said rescuers were short of rescuers and were being assisted by civilians, who are now resorting to digging by hand as they try to reach hundreds of people trapped under the rubble.
More sad news from Turkey. The Gaziantep Palace (Gaziantep Kalsi), built by the Romans between 527 and 565 AD and extensively rebuilt by the Seljuks, collapsed and turned into rubble. pic.twitter.com/5CpIWmzcm3
— Fuad Alakbarov (@DrAlakbarov) February 6, 2023
People are afraid to step inside their homes in Gaziantep, Turkey. Most of the residents have gone to open spaces and are in a state of panic and confusion.
“Everyone is sitting in their cars, or trying to drive away from buildings to open spaces. I think not a single person in Gaziantep is in their homes anymore,” Erdem, a resident of the city, told the news agency. was quoted BBC,
Gaziantep has the highest death toll, with more than 80 dead. BBC said in its report, with the toll expected to rise.
The initial powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake was followed by two earthquakes of magnitude 6.4 and one of magnitude 6.5 in the city.
The 2,200-year-old Gaziantep Castle has also collapsed due to the earthquake.
More than 70 people are reported dead in the Kahramanmaras region, as the death toll is expected to rise as search and rescue operations continue.
Citizens in Diyarbakir told BBC that some people were rescued from the top floor of a large building, parts of which had already collapsed.
Another resident of the city said that the earthquake was strong and the tremors were so strong that he woke up from sleep.
The earthquake occurred in the early hours of Monday when most of the residents were asleep.
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