Rescue efforts intensify as devastating earthquakes kill about 5,000 in Türkiye, Syria

ANKARA/DAMASCUS, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- The international community has pledged support for Türkiye and Syria after devastating earthquakes jolted vast swathes of the two neighboring countries on Monday. Rescuers are braving harsh weather and the risk of more quakes to save survivors from the wreckage.

About 5,000 people have been killed and tens of thousands injured as of Tuesday noon by the devastating earthquakes that could also be felt in Lebanon, Cyprus, Israel and other surrounding countries.

Aid and condolences poured in from world leaders as Türkiye and Syria called on the global community to help.

HEAVY CASUALTIES, LOSSES

A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Türkiye's southern province of Kahramanmaras at 4:17 a.m. local time (0117 GMT), followed by a magnitude 6.4 quake minutes later in the southern province of Gaziantep and a magnitude 7.6 earthquake at 1:24 p.m. (1024 GMT) in Kahramanmaras.

At least 78 aftershocks were recorded, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said Monday. Meteorological authorities monitored several magnitude 5.0 or stronger tremors in the afternoon.

Rescue work is in progress in quake-hit Aleppo province, northern Syria, Feb. 6, 2023. (Str/Xinhua)

In Türkiye, the death toll climbed to 3,419, at least 20,534 others were injured, and more than 5,775 buildings destroyed, according to official data.

In the wake of the deadly quakes, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared national mourning for a week, saying, "Turkish flag will be hoisted at half-mast until sunset on Sunday all around Türkiye, at all foreign representations."

More than 1,500 people died, and some 3,500 were injured in Syria, according to the Syrian health ministry and local authorities.

Historic sites in Syria were affected. "Parts of the Ottoman mill in the Citadel" of Aleppo have collapsed, and the defensive walls have cracks, said Syria's antiquities and museums directorate.

Monday's earthquake is believed to be the strongest in Türkiye since the magnitude 7.9 tremor in eastern Erzincan Province left 33,000 people dead in 1939.

Earthquakes frequently strike Türkiye due to its tectonic location. In 2020, the country recorded almost 33,000 earthquakes in the region, including 332 at magnitudes of 4.0 and higher, the country's emergency authority said.

The country should undergo a massive campaign to reconstruct cities threatened by natural disasters, Turkish seismology expert Ovgun Ahmet Ercan told the media.

HORRIFYING MOMENTS

In Türkiye, residents who had fled from their homes in pajamas and T-shirts were waiting on streets covered by ice and snow. Many people were trying to leave the quake-hit areas, causing traffic jams and hindering emergency efforts, Türkiye's NTV reported.

People check damaged buildings after the earthquakes in Malatya, Türkiye, on Feb. 6, 2023. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)

In northern Syria's Aleppo Province, one of the worst-affected Syrian areas, people have yet to recover from shock and panic.

In the Karm al-Jabal neighborhood in the provincial capital of Aleppo, local resident Muhammad Boushi was overwhelmed by the shock, not knowing what to do with his brother's family trapped under rubble.

Boushi was luckily awakened by the tremor and fled his house before it collapsed. "We felt the earthquake and immediately took to the streets. Everyone left and took shelter on the streets. And we heard that buildings had collapsed, so we came to help," he told Xinhua.

"The civilians started to help rescue people from under the rubble, whether dead or alive. My 37-year-old brother, his wife, and their three children are still under the rubble. We are trying to contact them via mobile phone. It's ringing, but no one is answering," Boushi said anxiously.

"Around 4:30 in the morning, homes started to shake, so we woke up and went down to the streets. We heard a bang, and we rushed to see what was going on and tried to help. I hope all those under the rubble stay alive," said Mahmoud Muhammad, who lives in the nearby al-Shaar area.

Mamdouh Barot, another resident in the area, told Xinhua he and his family left their apartment before it started to crumble. When they got to the street, their building's upper floors collapsed in front of their eyes.

Barot lived on the ground floor and risked returning to grab some belongings. "When I came out, I heard a big noise. So we ran, not daring to look back. When we returned there later, we found the building had totally collapsed," he said.

RESCUE UNDERWAY

Türkiye issued a level-4 alarm after the earthquake, which included a call for international aid.

The Turkish Red Crescent and the country's emergency authority have dispatched rescue teams to the stricken area. The Turkish security forces, search and rescue volunteers and local rescue personnel also participated in the quake-relief work.

People search for survivors in the rubble of a destroyed building in quake-hit city of Jableh, Latakia province, Syria, on Feb. 6, 2023. (Str/Xinhua)

Some 3,500 soldiers have participated in rescue operations, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said, noting 17 aircraft loaded with aid supplies are flying to the region from Istanbul, Izmir and Ankara.

The Turkish Defense Ministry has set up an air corridor to facilitate search and rescue teams to reach the disaster sites.

Disaster and Emergency Management Authority President Yunus Sezer said nearly 15,000 rescue personnel and about 5,000 vehicles and construction equipment had been deployed in the region.

However, a winter blizzard and freezing conditions hampered search and rescue efforts. Current temperatures were colder than seasonal averages, below 10 degrees Celsius in most affected regions. The weather service forecasted rain and sleet across southeastern Türkiye until Thursday.

The Syrian government has set up a 24-hour central operation center led by Prime Minister Hussein Arnous to coordinate earthquake relief operations. All relevant ministries, institutions and authorities were on alert, state news agency SANA reported.

In Aleppo, rescuers used bulldozers and shovels to pry open building rubble to search for survivors in the region enveloped by snow and rain on Monday. Some rescuers struggled to pull casualties out of the debris with their bare hands.

In Hama Province in central Syria, rescue work continues, with shelters secured for people who lost their homes in the earthquakes, Interior Minister Mohammad Khaled al-Rahmoun told Xinhua at the site of a collapsed building in the province's al-Arabeen neighborhood.

Standing by a seven-story building in Hama, home to 100-150 people, Alaa Shaker, coordinator of the emergency unit at the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, said only 45 of the dwellers had been rescued.

"We have reports on deaths between 15 and 20 people under the building," he added.

INTERNATIONAL AID

World leaders have expressed solidarity with the people of Türkiye and Syria and their condolences to the families of the victims, pledging to mobilize support.

People check damaged buildings after the earthquakes in Malatya, Türkiye, on Feb. 6, 2023. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)

"My heart goes out to the people of Türkiye and Syria in this hour of tragedy," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a statement after the quakes. "The United Nations is fully committed to supporting the response. Our teams are on the ground assessing the needs and providing assistance."

China has launched an emergency humanitarian assistance mechanism and will provide emergency aid to quake-hit Türkiye and Syria, said Deng Boqing, deputy head of the China International Development Cooperation Agency, on Tuesday.

China will provide the first batch of emergency aid worth 40 million yuan (about 5.89 million U.S. dollars) to Türkiye, sending a rescue team and a medical team in the shortest time, he added.

Members of a Chinese rescue team prepare to leave for Türkiye from a fire fighting training base in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 7, 2023. A Chinese rescue team departed from Beijing for Türkiye on a chartered plane on Tuesday afternoon to join earthquake relief efforts in the country. The 82-member team was dispatched by the Ministry of Emergency Management, at the request of the Turkish government. (Xinhua/Peng Ziyang)

Iran, Lebanon, India, Egypt, Russia, France, Finland and other countries worldwide have also expressed their readiness to help Türkiye and Syria.

More than 100 Russian rescuers have arrived in Türkiye to assist in the aftermath of the deadly earthquakes, the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations said on Tuesday.

Algeria and Libya pledged to send rescue workers to help with the aftermath. Israel said it would dispatch two rescue teams to Türkiye following the request of the Turkish government.

Erdogan said Ankara has received offers of help from some 45 countries.