As of 3:30 pm (Hanoi time) on February 6, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake shook and collapsed many buildings in central Turkey and northwestern Syria at dawn on the same day. More than 500 people were killed and thousands were injured.
The number of victims and casualties will increase sharply as rescuers are trying to search for victims in the rubble.
Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said that the country has recorded 284 deaths and 2,323 injuries, while the functional forces are rushing to deploy rescue forces and equipment to areas. affected area.
Turkey also declared a Level 4 alert requesting international assistance in the disaster. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s office said that the leader had a phone call with the governors of the eight affected provinces to collect information on the situation and direct the rescue and relief work.
Turkey has suspended civilian flights at Gaziante airport due to damage following the earthquake. Meanwhile, the oil pipeline connecting Kerkuk and Ceyhan is still operating normally.
In Syria, a health official said the earthquake with its epicenter in Turkey had killed more than 237 people and injured 600. Most of the casualties were recorded in the provinces of Hama, Aleppo and Latakia, where many high-rise buildings collapsed due to the impact of the earthquake.
The office of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad announced that the Syrian leader held an emergency meeting to assess the damage and discuss further measures to overcome the consequences of the earthquake.
Images broadcast on Syrian television showed rescuers searching for missing victims in cold and rainy weather. Syrian health officials appealed to the public to help bring the wounded to emergency rooms.
Due to the impact of the earthquake, the people of Cyprus and Lebanon also felt the shaking. Witnesses said people in the Lebanese cities of Beirut and Tripoli poured into the streets and drove away from high-rise buildings, fearing the risk of collapse.
