Kourdi said there were eight “very strong” followingshocks within a minute of the initial quake, sending furniture to the floor.
In Syria, many buildings in the city of Aleppo collapsed following the earthquake. Aleppo is Syria’s second largest city, regarding a 2-hour drive from the epicenter. The director of the city’s health agency said the flow of injured people rushed to hospitals following the earthquake.
Losing your home in the middle of winter
Right now, the Middle East is winter. Ozgul Konakci, a resident of the Turkish city of Malatya, said followingshocks and cold winter weather made the situation worse.
“It’s very cold and it’s snowing right now. People have to stay on the streets because they don’t have shelter, they don’t know what to do. I saw the windows of a building explode following an followingshock,” Konakci said. .
According to the European Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC), preliminary data shows that following the first earthquake there was a second earthquake of magnitude 7.7 and 67 km south of Kahramanmaraş, Turkey. north-northeast, at a depth of 2 km. Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Agency reported magnitude 7.6 and greater depth.
| At least 1,500 people were killed in the earthquake. Image: Archyde.com. |
Image from the news agency’s camera A News showed a building in Malatya collapsed following the followingshock, accompanied by screams of panic at the scene.
“As we were scouring the rubble to film the search and rescue efforts, there were two followingshocks in a row,” reporter Yuksel Akalan reported on the situation in Malatya.
Ozgul Konacki, a resident of Malatya, said he witnessed many surrounding buildings collapse one following another while waiting with his family on the street.
“Some people wanted to go back inside their houses because it was too cold outside. But then we felt the followingshocks, so people had to run outside once more,” Konacki said.
Ismail Al Abdullah, a volunteer with the humanitarian aid organization White Helmets in Syria, said the situation in the city of Sarmada and the areas bordering Turkey is very dire. Many buildings in different cities and villages in northwestern Syria collapsed or were destroyed by the earthquake.
“We need relief. We need the international community to help and support us. Northwest Syria is now a disaster area. We need all the help to rescue the people,” Ismail said. .
Theo AP, more than 1,800 people were killed following the earthquake and followingshocks on February 6. The number of injured people is now around 6,000. The death toll is likely to continue to grow as more people are trapped under the rubble of buildings.
