In Pictures: 7.8-Magnitude earthquake kills hundreds across Turkey and Syria

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A 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Turkey and Syria early on Monday, killing hundreds of people as they slept, levelling buildings and sending tremors that were felt as far away as the island of Cyprus, Egypt and Iraq.

One of the largest quakes to strike Turkey in a century wiped out entire sections of major cities in a region filled with millions of people who have fled the civil war in Syria and other conflicts.

The head of Syria’s National Earthquake Centre, Raed Ahmed, told pro-government radio that this was “historically, the biggest earthquake recorded in the history of the centre”.

Rescue workers carry a boy they recovered from the rubbles of a building after an earthquake in Dana, rebel-held Idlib, early on February 6, 2023. (Photo by Aaref WATAD / AFP)
Members of the Syrian civil defence, known as the White Helmets search for survivors under the rubble following an earthquake in the town of Zardana in the countryside of the northwestern Syrian Idlib province, early on February 6, 2023. (Photo by Mohammed AL-RIFAI / AFP)
Residents gather in front of the rubble of a building that collapsed, following an earthquake in the village of Azmarin, near the Turkish border in the north of Syria’s rebel-held northwestern Idlib province, early on February 6, 2023.  (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
In this video grab from AFP TV taken on February 6, 2023, rescuers search for victims of a 7.8-magnitude earthquake that hit Diyarbakir, in southeastern Turkey, levelling buildings across several cities and causing damages in neighbouring Syria. (Photo by Mahmut BOZARSLAN / AFPTV / AFP)
Syrian rescuers (White Helmets) try to retrieve an injured man from the rubble of a collapsed building following an earthquake, in the border town of Azaz in the rebel-held north of the Aleppo province, early on February 6, 2023 (Photo by Bakr ALKASEM / AFP)
Rescuers try to free a young boy from the rubble of a collapsed building follwoing an earthquake, in the Syrian border town of Azaz in the rebel-held north of the Aleppo province, early on February 6, 2023 (Photo by Nayef Al-ABOUD / AFP)

– ‘People under rubble’ –

Images on Turkish television showed rescuers digging through rubble across city centres and residential neighbourhoods of almost all the big cities running along the border with Syria.

Some of the heaviest devastation occurred near the quake’s epicentre between Kahramanmaras and Gaziantep, where entire city blocks lay in ruins under the gathering snow.

Kahramanmaras Governor Omer Faruk Coskun said it was too early to estimate the death toll because so many buildings were destroyed.

“It is not possible to give the number of dead and injured at the moment because so many buildings have been destroyed,” Coskun said. “The damage is serious.”

A famous mosque dating back to the 13th century partially collapsed in the province of Maltaya, where a 14-story building with 28 apartments also collapsed.

In other cities, anguished rescuers struggled to reach survivors trapped under the debris.

“We hear voices here — and over there, too,” one rescuer was overheard as saying on NTV television in front of a flattened building in the city of Diyarbakir.

“There may be 200 people under the rubble.”

Members of the Syrian civil defence, known as the White Helmets look for casualties under the rubble following an earthquake in the town of Zardana in the countryside of the northwestern Syrian Idlib province, early on February 6, 2023.  (Photo by Mohammed AL-RIFAI / AFP)
Victims are rushed to the emergency ward of the Bab al-Hawa hospital following an earthquake, in the rebel-held northern countryside of Syria’s Idlib province on the border with Turkey, early on February 6, 2023. (Photo by Aaref WATAD / AFP)
Syrian rescuers (White Helmets) and civilians search for victims and survivors amid the rubble of a collapsed building following an earthquake, in the rebel-held northern countryside of Syria’s Idlib province on the border with Turkey, early on February 6, 2023,  (Photo by Aaref WATAD / AFP)
Members of the Syrian civil defence, known as the White Helmets transport a casualty pulled from the rubble following an earthquake in the town of Zardana in the countryside of the northwestern Syrian Idlib province, early on February 6, 2023. (Photo by Abdulaziz KETAZ / AFP)
In this handout photo taken by Sana news agency in Hama, Syria on February 6, 2023, rescuers search for victims from an eight-storey building that collapsed after an 7.8-magnitude earthquake in southern Turkey. (Photo by Handout / SANA / AFP) / == RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – MANDATORY CREDIT “AFP PHOTO / HO / SANA” – NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS – DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS ==
People gather around collapsed buildings as rescue teams look for survivors following an earthquake in the government-held Syrian city of Aleppo on February 6, 2023. – A 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Turkey and Syria on February 6, killing hundreds of people as they slept, levelling buildings, and sending tremors that were felt as far away as the island of Cyprus and Egypt. (Photo by AFP)
Soldiers walk as people search for survivors through the rubble in Diyarbakir, on February 6, 2023, after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the country’s south-east. – At least 284 people died in Turkey and more than 2,300 people were injured in one of Turkey’s biggest quakes in at least a century, as search and rescue work continue in several major cities. (Photo by ILYAS AKENGIN / AFP)
Onlookers watch as rescue teams look for survivors under the rubble of a collapsed building after an earthquake in the regime-controlled northern Syrian city of Aleppo on February 6, 2023. – A 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Turkey and Syria early on February 6, killing hundreds of people as they slept, levelling buildings and sending tremors that were felt as far away as the island of Cyprus, Egypt and Iraq. (Photo by AFP)

– Dam warning –

The Syrian health ministry reported damage across the provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama and Tartus, where Russia is leasing a naval facility.

AFP correspondents in northern Syria said terrified residents ran out of their homes after the ground shook.

Even before the tragedy, buildings in Aleppo, Syria’s pre-war commercial hub, often collapsed due to the dilapidated infrastructure, which has suffered from lack of war-time oversight.

Naci Gorur, an earthquake expert with Turkey’s Academy of Sciences, urged local officials to immediately check the region’s dams for cracks to avert potentially catastrophic flooding.

AFP correspondents in northern Syria said terrified residents ran out of their homes after the ground shook.

Even before the tragedy, buildings in Aleppo, Syria’s pre-war commercial hub, often collapsed due to the dilapidated infrastructure, which has suffered from lack of war-time oversight.

Naci Gorur, an earthquake expert with Turkey’s Academy of Sciences, urged local officials to immediately check the region’s dams for cracks to avert potentially catastrophic flooding.

Officials cut off natural gas supplies across the region as a precaution.

Turkey is in one of the world’s most active earthquake zones.

The Turkish region of Duzce suffered a 7.4-magnitude earthquake in 1999 — the worst to hit Turkey in decades.

That quake killed more than 17,000 people, including about 1,000 in Istanbul.

Experts have long warned a large quake could devastate Istanbul, which has allowed widespread building without safety precautions.

A magnitude-6.8 quake hit Elazig in January 2020, killing more than 40 people.

And in October that year, a magnitude-7.0 quake hit Turkey’s Aegean coast, killing 114 people and wounding more than 1,000.

The last 7.8-magnitude tremor shook Turkey in 1939, when 33,000 died in the eastern province of Erzincan.

© Agence France-Presse