On February 6th, two earthquakes rocked Turkey’s south-east region.
The earthquake was the most devastating to hit earthquake-prone Turkey in more than 20 years and was as strong as one in 1939, the most powerful recorded there.
The initial earthquake was centered near Gaziantep in south-central Turkey, home to thousands of Syrian refugees and the many humanitarian aid organizations also based there.
On the disaster’s 14th day, the death toll in Türkiye stands at 41,020 as of Sunday evening. The toll in Syria has reached 5,814, taking the combined death toll in both countries to at least 46,834.
We have learned that search and rescue operations have been terminated in nine quake-hit provinces, while efforts will continue for a few more days in Kahramanmaraş and Hatay.
As the search and rescue effort for buried survivors of the Feb. 6 earthquakes started to wind down in Türkiye, demolition teams have moved in to clear the mounds of rubble left by the worst disaster in modern Turkish history.
The Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency, the country’s disaster management agency, also said that some 6,040 aftershocks hit the 11 provinces that form the disaster zone declared by the government in the days following the initial quake.
Sources: www.trtworld www.dailysabah www.huriyetdailynews
Image from the www.bbc
