JUST IN: Hundreds dead as powerful earthquake shakes Turkey, Syria
Numerous structures have been destroyed in southeast Turkey and northern Syria by an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8.
Turkey reported at least 76 fatalities, while Syria reported at least 200.
In cities and villages throughout Turkey and Syria, rescue teams are conducting a frenzied hunt for survivors who may be hidden beneath tangles of metal and chunks of concrete.
A snowfall that is currently affecting the Middle East is scheduled to last until Thursday when the earthquake struck.
The death toll from “one of the worst earthquakes experienced [in the region] for hundreds of years,” according to Martin Mai, professor of geophysics at King Abdullah University, is likely to keep growing over the coming days.
Because of the way that buildings are constructed, severe earthquakes in Turkey have historically resulted in roughly 13,000 fatalities. This event’s sheer enormity will have a significant economic impact as well, Mai said.
Following the 7.9-magnitude earthquake, Italian officials issued a tsunami warning for the southern coast of the country.
The Civil Protection Department of Italy has advised citizens to avoid coastal areas in a statement. The agency added in the statement that although train service had been briefly suspended in Sicily, Calabria, and Apulia as a precaution, it had been restarted the following morning.
According to assistant health minister Ahmed Dhamiriyeh on state television, the massive earthquake in Syria has resulted in 237 fatalities and 639 injuries.
Areas controlled by the government and those controlled by the opposition make up the impacted region of Syria.
The opposition’s Syrian Civil Defense described the situation in the northwest of the country, which is controlled by the rebels, as “disastrous,” noting that entire buildings had collapsed and that people are trapped beneath the rubble.
