The Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency "AFAD" announced that the earthquake that struck southern Turkey has killed 29,605 people, and 147,934 people have been evacuated from the affected areas.
The Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) announced that the earthquake that struck southern Turkey has killed 29,605 people, and 147,934 people have been evacuated from the affected areas.
She added that search and rescue work is still continuing to rescue those trapped under the rubble.
Earlier on Saturday, Turkish Health Minister Fakhruddin Koca, from Hatay province in southern Turkey, said that additional doctors and medical personnel had been appointed in the earthquake-affected areas, and that medical staff were working at full capacity.
The magnitude of the earthquake that struck Kahramanmaraş in southern Turkey last Monday is equivalent to 500 atomic bombs, according to Orhan Tatar, director general of the Earthquake and Risk Reduction Department at the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD).
Tatar said in televised statements on Saturday that the energy emitted from the first earthquake, which had a magnitude of 7.7 and lasted 65 seconds, is equivalent to 500 atomic bombs.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in statements during his inspection of the earthquake areas in Sanliurfa province that the Turkish government provided aid worth 15,000 Turkish liras to each family affected by the earthquake.
He pointed out that the Turkish government is taking measures that would alleviate the problems of the victims and facilitate their lives. He mentioned that 460,000 citizens are currently residing in schools, training hotels and teachers' residences belonging to the Ministry of National Education. He confirmed that 1.1 million people live in temporary shelters.
In statements Sunday from the state of Adi Yaman, the Turkish Minister of Transport, Adel Kara Ismailoglu, said that they are doing their utmost to save the earthquake victims, warning of the spread of many media misinformation operations on social media, and asking citizens not to listen to these false campaigns.
Turkish Minister of Transport, Adel Kara Ismailoglu: We are doing our best to save earthquake victims through social media. Many media misinformation operations are spreading, and we ask everyone not to listen to these false campaigns pic.twitter.com/mprIujBznA
In a related context, the Turkish Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Wahid Kreishji, confirmed that the dams in the earthquake areas were not damaged.
The minister said that the areas affected by the earthquakes include 110 dams and 30 lakes, adding: "There is nothing that threatens the safety of dams in our facilities."
At dawn on Monday, a 7.7-magnitude earthquake hit southern Turkey and northern Syria, followed hours later by another with a magnitude of 7.6 and hundreds of violent aftershocks, which left huge losses of lives and property in both countries.
"Millions have been displaced." The number of earthquake victims in Syria has risen to 3,574
The death toll across Syria (regime and opposition-held areas) has risen to 3,574, according to Agence France-Presse. Earlier, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees warned that the devastating earthquakes may have displaced 5.3 million people in Syria.
The death toll across Syria (regime and opposition-held areas) has risen to 3,574, according to Agence France-Presse.
Many residents of northwest Syria have already been displaced from other parts of the country that forces loyal to the Assad regime recaptured during the ongoing civil war, and are now homeless again.
“On the first day we slept in the street, on the second day we slept in our cars, then we slept in other people’s homes,” said Ramadan Suleiman, 28, whose family fled eastern Syria to the town of Jandris, which was badly damaged by the earthquake.
In Aleppo, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the disaster as heartbreaking. "We just brought in some supplies and we look forward to continuing the support," he told reporters.
Dozens of planes carrying aid have arrived in the areas controlled by the Syrian regime since Monday, while only a few have arrived in the most affected northwestern region of the country.
In normal times, the United Nations provides aid to this region through the border with Turkey.
Italy's envoy to Damascus said that a shipment of Italian humanitarian aid destined for areas controlled by the regime in Syria arrived in Beirut this evening, in the first European aid from the earthquake to the regime.
Chargé d'Affairs Massimiliano Dantono told Reuters that the shipment, which weighs 30 tons, includes four ambulances and 13 containers of medical equipment.
Earlier, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees warned that the devastating earthquakes may have displaced 5.3 million people in Syria, which has been suffering from a conflict that has lasted for nearly 12 years.
At dawn on Monday, a 7.7-magnitude earthquake hit southern Turkey and northern Syria, followed hours later by another with a magnitude of 7.6 and hundreds of violent aftershocks, which left huge losses of lives and property in both countries.
Since Monday dawn, residents and medics in several Syrian governorates have been preoccupied with searching for survivors under the rubble, amid limited capabilities, with fewer chances of finding survivors.
Syrian survivors have taken refuge in camps for the displaced near the Turkish border, or in temporary shelters established by the authorities in the stricken governorates. Some of them also slept in the streets, courtyards, and fields, or even chose to spend their nights in cars.
The representative of the UNHCR described the situation in Syria, saying: "It is a crisis within a crisis."