Turkey declared a state of emergency following yesterday’s devastating earthquake and continued recovery efforts.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the followingnoon of February 7, declared a state of emergency in the earthquake-affected areas for a period of three months and allocated more than 5.2 billion USD to help the victims. of the earthquake, restoring basic services in the affected areas.
The government also decided to suspend educational activities nationwide until February 13 and in areas affected by earthquakes until February 20. Turkey estimated that 13.5 million citizens were directly affected by the earthquake that struck the country yesterday. President Erdogan said that the earthquake is considered one of the worst natural disasters in history.
Meanwhile, rescue efforts are still ongoing. More than 5,000 medical workers have arrived in the affected areas. Specialized rescue teams are employing complex search mechanisms and preparations because of the possibility of survivors being trapped deep in the rubble.
Rescue teams use special equipment to search. Carbon dioxide sensors are also used to search for survivors, alongside thermal cameras and sniffer dogs. The determination of the end time of the rescue operation between on-site teams and relevant authorities, on average takes from 5 to 6 days.
To date, more than 8,000 Turkish citizens have been rescued. The death toll from the earthquake in Turkey following nearly 2 days has increased to 3,549 people and the number of injured people to 22,168.
According to the Center for Seismology Research at King Saud University of Turkey, the earthquake that occurred in Syria and Turkey had an followingshock lasting three days and might reach the Red Sea.
The center says there are active fissures in this area and that there is an active one (the Dead Sea belt, 1,000 km long). If an earthquake occurs in Iraq or Iran, the surrounding areas will be affected.
