Earthquake in Turkey: what is known about the disaster and the number of victims
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On February 6, two strong earthquakes with a magnitude of 7.7 and 7.6 occurred in Turkey, which killed more than 5 thousand people. According to the latest data, at least 3,432 people died and more than 21,000 were injured in 10 cities in southern Turkey, Anadolu reports. As of 1:00 p.m., 1,600 people have died in Syria, Aljazeera reports. The number of victims of the earthquake is constantly growing, emergency workers are sorting out the rubble. According to diplomats, there are no victims among Ukrainians in Turkey. During the last day, earthquakes also occurred in Taiwan, New York (USA), and Russia. People are being searched under rubble in Hatay province. Photo: Umit Bektas/REUTERS Earthquakes in the world: what happened Over the last day, 159 earthquakes occurred in the world, the strongest of which was in Turkey. Another 21 earthquakes in the world had a magnitude of 5 to 6, and 140 earthquakes had a magnitude of 4 to 5 on the Richter scale. On February 6, at 4:17 a.m., an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7 was recorded in the Pazarchik district of the Kahramanmarash province on the territory of Turkey. 11 minutes after that there was a powerful aftershock (underground shock after an earthquake) with a magnitude of 6.7. At 9 o’clock Kahramanmarash was shaken by a second earthquake with a magnitude of 7.6 with the epicenter in the city of Elbistan. This is one of the most powerful tremors that has occurred in Turkey in more than 80 years of observations, say the Main Center for Special Control. The map shows the epicenters, magnitudes and distribution areas of earthquakes in Turkey on February 6. Photo: Volcano Disсovery, data from AFAD The natural disaster affected several provinces – Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakır, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye and Sanliurfa. In addition to Turkey, a large-scale earthquake was felt in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Cyprus, as well as in Georgia and Armenia. After the tragedy, Turkey announced seven days of national mourning, suspended all sports events and closed schools until February 13. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the deadly earthquake “the biggest disaster” since the Erzincan earthquake of 1939, when 32,000 people died. A similar earthquake also occurred in 1999 in the western city of Izmit. More than 17,000 people died as a result of the 7.4-magnitude earthquake. Turkey is located in one of the most active seismic zones in the world (on the Mediterranean-Trans-Asian seismic belt), so earthquakes in the country are not uncommon. AL Jazeera writes that the February 6 earthquake was complicated by several factors. “One of the reasons for such a large number of victims is the low quality of the buildings,” Mustafa Erdik, a professor at the Istanbul Earthquake Research Institute, said in a comment to the publication. Also, one of the reasons why the earthquake resulted in such a large number of victims is the early time of the shock – 4:17 in the morning. At that time, people were still sleeping, so many were buried under the rubble. Rescuers in the city of Osmaniye are sorting through the debris. Photo: Dilara Senkaya/Reuters On February 6, an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.8 also occurred in Taiwan. The disaster was felt in Japan, the Philippines and China. In West Seneca, near the city of Buffalo (New York, USA), there was also an earthquake with a magnitude of 3.8 – the strongest in the last 40 years. According to the US Geological Survey, the tremors were recorded at approximately 6:15 am. Fortunately, no damage or casualties have been recorded in the district so far. On the morning of February 7, earthquakes were also recorded on the territory of Russia. The 5.8-magnitude earthquake occurred 189 kilometers from Severno-Kurilsk. Two earthquakes with a magnitude of 3.8 were also recorded near the village of Nikolske and the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. It will be recalled that the Turkish government previously reported that the catastrophic earthquake directly affected 16% of the population of Turkey. Read also: Earthquake in Turkey: diplomats searched for six Ukrainians, some of their homes were destroyed
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