Thousands of dead, wounded and missing: it is the result of strong earthquake registered on Monday, February 6 in the border between Turkey and Syria, an area of high seismic activity. The magnitude of the tremor was 7.8, making it the most powerful earthquake in Turkish history since 1939, and it has been followed by a multitude of aftershocks, including one of magnitude 7.5, similar to the main earthquake. Although the damage is centered on Turkey and Syria, the tremor was felt not only in countries in the region, such as Israel or Lebanon, but also came to be felt in Greenlandas a Danish seismologist has confirmed to laSexta.
Although the balance of dead and wounded It increases as the hours go by, so far more than 20,400 deaths have been recorded between the two countries, in addition to more than 69,000 injuries. A few years ago, in 1999, Turkey experienced an earthquake of a similar magnitude that killed 17,000 people. The emergency teams do not stop working and to date, more than 8,000 people have already been rescued from the rubble, many of them children.
Key facts about the Turkey and Syria earthquake
- Magnitude: 7.8 (the Turkish Geological Service has a measurement of 7.4)
- Epicenter: 30 kilometers west-northwest of Gaziantep (Turkey) and about 108 kilometers north-northwest of Aleppo (Syria), in the Pazarcık district, in Kahramanmaraş.
- Depth: 7 km
- earthquake time: 04:17 on February 6, 2023
- replicas: More aftershocks and earthquakes continue to be recorded, including one of magnitude 7.5 hours after the first major earthquake.
- Alert level in Turkey: 4