Underground shocks: Turkey and Syria were hit by a powerful earthquake

There was a powerful earthquake in the southeast of Turkey. Ten provinces were affected and hundreds of houses were destroyed. It is already known about at least 1121 dead and 5385 injured, but the number of victims is steadily growing. A state of emergency is declared in the country, more than 2824 buildings have been destroyed. The authorities of Turkey inform that they are ready to accept the international help. Earthquake shocks were also felt throughout the region – in Cyprus, Lebanon and Syria. In the SAR it is reported about 430 dead and thousands of wounded. About what happened – in the article of Izvestia.
What happened

At 04:17 local time (coincides with Moscow time) at a depth of 17.9 km near the city of Gaziantep, located near the Syrian border with a population of over 1 million people, an earthquake of magnitude 7.4 occurred. A total of 32 aftershocks were recorded, including six with a magnitude greater than 6.

The country declared its highest level of alert.

At least 76 people were killed and more than 440 injured, according to the Turkish Disaster Management Agency (AFAD).

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said 10 Turkish cities were affected. Among them are Adana, Adiyaman, Gaziantep, Diyarbakir, Kilis, Kahramanmaras, Malatya, Osmaniye and Hatay.

Earthquakes were also felt in Ankara, Antalya, Kayseri, Mersin, Trabzon and Urfa.

Turkish Republic is located in one of the most active seismic zones in the world. One of the most powerful earthquakes happened in the country in 1999 in the area of Izmit in the north-west of the country. Then more than 18 thousand people were lost.

What are the known consequences of the earthquake

In Adana, 17- and 14-storey residential buildings completely collapsed. The earthquake caused a strong fire at the gas pipeline in Kahramanmarash. In Osmaniye, the governor reported the deaths of five people and the collapse of 34 buildings.

The Governor of Malatya Hulusi Shain stated that at least 130 buildings collapsed in the city and by morning the bodies of three people had been pulled out from under the rubble, another 100 were in hospital, and at least 16 houses collapsed in Shanliurfa. There were reportedly 18 dead and 67 injured.

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