The Turkish president says that the areas affected by the earthquake extend to regarding 500 kilometers
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said today, Friday, that the number of victims devastating earthquake The number that hit the country at dawn last Monday reached 18,991.
The president added in a televised press conference that the number of injured as a result of the earthquake rose to 75,570.
Erdogan pointed out that the areas affected by the earthquake extend to regarding 500 kilometers, which makes it difficult to deliver aid to all of them, noting that “the response to the earthquake was not as fast as we wanted.”
He added that cases of “theft and looting” of goods from shops had been monitored, vowing that the authorities would be “more violent” with the perpetrators and would punish them in the most severe ways.
The Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said earlier today that up to 75,780 people had been evacuated from the areas affected by the 7.7-magnitude earthquake in southern Turkey.
Erdogan said yesterday, Thursday, that Turkey faced the largest earthquake disaster in this region in history, indicating that relief work is still continuing and that the state is mobilizing all its resources to save lives and alleviate the suffering of the afflicted.
