More than 1,000 killed as huge quake rocks Turkey and Syria

The overall death toll from the powerful earthquake that struck southeast Turkey and northern Syria on Monday rose to 1000. Hundreds more were reported injured in both countries. Turkey sits on top of major seismic fault lines and is frequently shaken by earthquakes. The epicenter of Monday’s was about 26 kilometers (16 miles) from the city of Nurdagi and about 33 kilometers (20 miles) from Gaziantep, a major city and provincial capital, the U.S. Geological Survey said. More than a dozen strong aftershocks followed, including one of 7.7 magnitude. On both sides of the border, residents jolted out of sleep by the pre-dawn quake rushed outside on a cold, rainy and snowy winter night, as buildings were flattened and strong aftershocks continued. Rescue workers and residents frantically searched for survivors under the rubble of their homes in multiple cities, working through tangles of metal and chunks of concrete. Further east in Diyarbakir, cranes and rescue teams rushed people on stretchers out of a mountain of pancaked concrete floors that was once an apartment building. On the Syrian side of the border, the quake smashed opposition-held regions that are packed with some 4 million people displaced from other parts of Syria by the country’s long civil war. Many of them live in decrepit conditions with little health care, with Russian-backed Syrian forces surrounding the area and sometimes carrying out airstrikes. Rescue workers said hospitals in the area were packed. The quake, felt as far away as Cairo, was centered about 90 kilometers (60 miles) from the Syrian border, just north of the city of Gaziantep, a major Turkish provincial capital of more than 2 million people. The region has been shaped by more than a decade of war in Syria. Millions of Syrian refugees live in Turkey. The swath of Syria affected by the quake is divided between government-held and opposition-held areas. At least 20 aftershocks followed, some hours later during daylight, the strongest measuring 7.7, Turkish authorities said. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Twitter that “search and rescue teams were immediately dispatched” to the areas hit by the quake. “We hope that we will get through this disaster together as soon as possible and with the least damage,” he wrote. In Turkey, people trying to leave the quake-stricken regions caused traffic jams, hampering efforts of emergency teams trying to reach the affected areas. Authorities urged residents not to take to the roads. Mosques around the region were being opened up as a shelter for people unable to return to damaged homes amid temperatures that hovered around freezing. The quake jolted residents in Lebanon from beds, shaking buildings for about 40 seconds. Many residents of Beirut left their homes and took to the streets or drove in their cars away from buildings. The earthquake came as the Middle East is experiencing a snowstorm that is expected to continue until Thursday. Turkey sits on top of major fault lines and is frequently shaken by earthquakes. Some 18,000 were killed in powerful earthquakes that hit northwest Turkey in 1999. ( Source AP)