Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared a state of emergency in 10 provinces affected by the earthquake. In his speech to the media, Erdogan said that 3,400 lives have been lost so far and more than 8,000 have been rescued.
Two new earthquakes of magnitude 5.6 and 5.7 struck Turkey, one day after three deadly earthquakes, also felt in Syria, Lebanon and Israel. The death toll was close to crossing 5,000. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared a state of emergency in 10 provinces affected by the earthquake. In his speech to the media, Erdogan said that 3,400 lives have been lost so far and more than 8,000 have been rescued.
All schools will remain closed until February 13.
All public buildings will be used for the victims (for their shelter).
54,000 tents, 102,000 beds sent to earthquake-affected areas
There is a power outage in the area
70 countries and 14 international organizations have come forward seeking rescue and help.
– Not for my country but for the whole world I can say that this is the biggest disaster
State of emergency will be maintained for three months
We have prepared 10,000 containers to be used as shelters. Those who have been sent to the disaster zone.
What did the WHO say?
Turkish authorities say around 13.5 million people were affected in an area stretching some 450 km (280 miles) from Adana in the west to Diyarbakır in the east and 300 km from Malatya in the north to Hatay in the South. Syrian authorities have reported deaths south of Hama, some 100 km from the epicenter. “Now it’s a race against time,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said in Geneva. “Every minute, every hour that goes by, the chances of finding survivors are getting smaller.”
Turkey’s Vice President Fuat Oktay said some 3,294 search and rescue teams from 14 countries have arrived so far. He said the teams were being moved to the hardest-hit provinces of Hatay, Kahramanmaras and Adiyaman. He listed the countries that send teams as the Czech Republic, France, Malta, the Netherlands, India, Poland, Algeria, Italy, Moldova, Albania, Israel, Uzbekistan, Hungary, Germany, Serbia, Slovakia, Qatar, the United Kingdom and Russia. The vice president said that around 380,000 survivors are currently housed in government dormitories or hotels.