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Turkey And Syria In Search For More Survivors After Death Toll Passes 5,000

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Turkey And Syria In Search For More Survivors After Death Toll Passes 5,000

(CTN NEWS) – ADANA, Turkey – More victims were discovered Tuesday, bringing the death toll to more than 5,000.

Rescuers hurried to find survivors in the debris of thousands of buildings brought down by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake and numerous aftershocks that slammed eastern Turkey and neighboring Syria.

International organizations sent teams to help with the rescue operations, and according to Turkey’s disaster management agency, there are already around 24,400 emergency workers on the ground.

However, their efforts were dispersed due to the large area affected by the earthquake on Monday and the almost 6,000 buildings reported collapsed in Turkey alone.

Turkey and Syria search for surv 1

Emergency team members and others search for people in a destroyed building in Adana, Turkey, Monday, Feb. 6, 2023. A powerful earthquake has knocked down multiple buildings in southeast Turkey and Syria, and many casualties are feared. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Colder-than-freezing weather and nearly 200 aftershocks made it dangerous to sift through fragile structures to find survivors.

In Antakya, the provincial capital of Hatay, Nurgul Atay told The Associated Press that she could hear her mother’s voice through the debris of a fallen building but that their attempts to enter the wreckage had been fruitless in the absence of rescue teams and heavy machinery.

She remarked, “If only we could lift the concrete slab, we’d be able to get to her.” “My mother, who is 70 years old, won’t be able to endure this for very long.”

Up to 1,500 structures may have been demolished in Hatay Province, which is located immediately southwest of the earthquake’s epicentre, according to officials.

Many people also claimed family members stuck beneath the wreckage without help or rescue crews showing up.

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Rescue workers and medics carry a young woman they have rescued from the debris of a collapsed building in Sanliurfa, southern Turkey, late Monday, Feb. 6, 2023.(IHA via AP)

As survivors were pulled out of the rubble throughout the night, cheering occasionally erupted in the areas where teams were working.

Residents of Damascus and Beirut rushed into the streets in response to the earthquake, which was as far away as Cairo and was centred in the province of Kahramanmaras in southeast Turkey.

Doctors Without Borders chief of mission in Syria, Sebastien Gay, reported that medical workers were overflowing northern Syria’s health facilities as they “worked around the clock to respond to the massive numbers of wounded.”

Thousands of people sought refuge in sports facilities or fair halls in the Hatay province of Turkey, while others camped out in the cold around fires.

Large numbers of Turkish soldiers are stationed in the Syrian border area, and the military has been ordered to assist in rescue operations by erecting tents for the homeless and a field hospital in the province of Hatay.

Turkey and Syria search for surv

A man searches for people in a destroyed building in Adana, Turkey, Monday, Feb. 6, 2023. A powerful quake has knocked down multiple buildings in southeast Turkey and Syria, and many casualties are feared. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

An Ankara-based humanitarian aid brigade and eight military search and rescue teams, according to Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, have also been sent out.

The port of Iskenderun in the province, where a hospital collapsed, welcomed a navy ship on Tuesday to take survivors who required medical attention to the adjacent city of Mersin.

In another part of the port, where firefighters are still battling to put out a fire that started among shipping containers that were knocked over by the earthquake, thick, black smoke rose.

People sought sanctuary in malls, stadiums, mosques, and community centers in the Turkish city of Gaziantep, the province capital, about 33 kilometers (20 miles) from the epicenter.

According to Turkey’s Vice President Fuat Oktay, there have already been 3,419 fatalities and 20,534 injuries across the country.

Turkey and Syria search for surv 2

People and emergency teams search for people in a destroyed building in Adana, Turkey, Monday, Feb. 6, 2023. A powerful quake has knocked down multiple buildings in southeast Turkey and Syria, and many casualties are feared. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

According to the Health Ministry, there have been 812 fatalities and 1,450 injuries in Syria’s government-controlled territories.

At least 790 people were killed, and more than 2,200 people were injured in the northwest of the nation, which is controlled by rebels, according to the opposition’s White Helmets paramedic group, which is in charge of directing rescue efforts.

The overall tally now stands at 5,021.

Authorities worry that as rescuers search through tangles of metal and concrete scattered around the area affected by Syria’s 12-year civil conflict and refugee crisis, the death toll will continue to rise.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said he was planning to send a 60-person search and rescue team, medical supplies and 50 soldiers, as soon as possible in the most recent international relief commitments.

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A man carries the body of an earthquake victim in the Bosnian village near the Turkish border, Idlib province, Syria, Monday, Feb. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

The Pakistani government said on Tuesday that there would be daily humanitarian flights to Syria and Turkey starting on Wednesday. The airplane was bringing relief materials and a 50-person search and rescue squad.

India announced it would send two search and rescue teams with trained dogs and medical staff.

According to a statement from Islamabad, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would visit Ankara on Wednesday to offer his condolences and support.

President of the United States, Joe Biden, contacted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to offer sympathy and support to the NATO ally. The White House announced that it would assist Turkey’s efforts by deploying teams for search and rescue.

The earthquake added to the region’s severe hardship over the past ten years.

Turkey and Syria search for surv 5

Men search for people among the debris in a destroyed building in Adana, Turkey, Monday, Feb. 6, 2023. A powerful quake has knocked down multiple buildings in southeast Turkey and Syria and many casualties are feared. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

On the Syrian side, the impacted region is split between territory under government control and the final opposition-held outpost encircled by government forces with Russian support. Millions of Syrian refugees have found safety in Turkey.

The opposition emergency group known as the White Helmets stated that hundreds of families were still buried under the rubble in the area held by the rebels.

Approximately 4 million people displaced by the war from other regions of the country are crammed into the area. Many people reside in structures that have already suffered damage from military shelling.

According to rescue workers, injured patients immediately filled up overcrowded hospital facilities. The SAMS medical association claims that some facilities, including maternity, had to be evacuated.

According to Orhan Tatar, a representative of Turkey’s emergency management organization, more than 7,800 persons were saved across 10 provinces.

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A young women removes debris from a destroyed building as she searches for people with emergency teams in Gaziantep, Turkey, Monday, Feb. 6, 2023. A powerful quake has knocked down multiple buildings in southeast Turkey and Syria and many casualties are feared. (AP Photo/Mustafa Karali)

Major fault lines run through the area, which frequently experiences earthquakes. Similarly, strong earthquakes that struck northwest Turkey in 1999 claimed over 18,000 lives.

As determined by the U.S. Geological Survey, the depth of Monday’s earthquake was 18 kilometers (11 miles). A second earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 struck hours later, more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) away and probably due to the first.

According to a video of the incident, the second shock caused a multistory apartment building in the Turkish city of Sanliurfa to tumble onto the street in a cloud of dust as onlookers shouted.

In a large area stretching from the Aleppo and Hama’s Syrian cities to Diyarbakir, Turkey, more than 330 kilometers (200 miles) to the northeast, thousands of structures were believed to have collapsed.

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