Turkey earthquake: Crowds rush to falling rubble during search for survivors
A powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake has hit Turkey and Syria killing more than 1, 300 people – with the toll expected to rise.
The quake, centred close to the southeastern city of Gaziantep, about 90km from the Syrian border, left a huge trail of destruction in both countries and was felt as far away as Cairo. It led Italy to issue a potential tsuanmi alert.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Twitter that “search and rescue teams were immediately dispatched” to the areas hit by the quake, with it being the largest disaster in the country since the Erzincan earthquake of 1939. More than 912 people have been killed in the country, with more than 5,000 injured.
On the Syrian side of the border, the quake smashed opposition-held regions in the northwest, with rescuers saying 147 people had died. A government health official told the state news agengy, SANA, that at least 326 people were killed in government-held areas, with more than 1000 people injured across the provinces of Hama, Aleppo and Latakia.
