Hundreds Killed As Huge Earthquake Rocks Turkey And Syria
More than 500 people have been killed and some 3,000 others injured in Turkey and Syria after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit southern Turkey early Monday.
Rescuers are now frantically searching for survivors after the powerful quake shook the region, causing multiple aftershocks and sending tremors as far away as Lebanon and Israel.
According to BBC reports, Turkey is one of the world's most active earthquake zones due to its location near several fault lines.
Most of the country is located on the Anatolian tectonic plate, which sits between two major plates - the Eurasian and African - and another minor one, the Arabian. As the two large plates shift, Turkey is essentially squeezed, experts say.
That means quakes and tremors are a fairly common experience. The country's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) recorded over 22,000 in 2022.
And many are deadly - the worst on record a 7.6 magnitude earthquake which struck İzmit in 1999, killing more than 17,000 people.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has updated its preliminary death toll to 320 for the whole of Syria shortly before 07:00 GMT.
Meanwhile, Syria's President Bashar Assad chaired an emergency meeting early this morning.
Dutch PM Mark Rutte has announced a Dutch search and rescue team will join the hunt for survivors in Turkey and Syria. In a tweet, he also shared his condolences to Turkey's president Erdogan, saying: "Thoughts are with all victims of this serious natural disaster."
The Greek PM, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said that Greece would also be "mobilising its resources" and assist the affected areas "immediately".
The leaders of Serbia and Sweden have also promised to send help to the region.
Tags: Signstv Afad Earthquake Editor's Pick
