Istanbul:
A terrible earthquake occurred on the Turkey-Syria border yesterday morning. The earthquake struck 23 kilometers (14.2 mi) east of Noordaki in Gaziantep province, Turkey, at a depth of 24.1 kilometers (14.9 mi). It was also the most powerful earthquake to hit the region in over 100 years. The magnitude 7.8 earthquake caused the collapse of many buildings in the border towns of Turkey and Syria. The earthquake was also felt in neighboring countries like Israel and Lebanon.
The death toll from this earthquake continues to rise. As of this afternoon, the death toll has crossed 11,000. 8,574 bodies have been recovered in Turkey and 2,530 in Syria. Dead bodies can be seen digging out the ruins. Hence, the death toll is feared to rise further.
It could take months for Turkey to return to normalcy. A three-month state of emergency has been declared in the 10 earthquake-affected provinces to enable full-scale rescue and relief operations.
The situation in Syria was already dire. Already suffering from freezing cold, cholera epidemics and poor infrastructure, the situation of Syrian refugees has become dire after the earthquake. Currently, millions of people affected by the civil war are staying in refugee camps in the earthquake-hit areas of northern Syria. Refugees have been greatly affected by this earthquake.
Meanwhile, President Erdoğan personally visited the earthquake-hit areas in the southern part of Turkey today. In the face of dissatisfaction and anger among the people that the government is slow in carrying out the rescue and relief work, Erdoğan today visited and accelerated the rescue work.