Turkey earthquake live updates | Death toll crosses 3,800

Turkish Vice President Fuat Otkay said 2,379 people were killed and 14,483 injured in a devastating earthquake that hit the country on Monday, updating an earlier toll.

A total of 7,840 people were pulled alive from rubble after 4,748 buildings were destroyed, Otkay added.

At least 1,444 people died Monday across Syria, the government and rescuers said. The new toll brings the total deaths in both countries to at least 3,823.- AFP

Turkey on Monday said 2,316 people were killed and 13,293 injured in a devastating earthquake that hit the country.

The emergencies services said 7,340 people had been rescued so far. The update brings the total number of quake victims in Turkey and neighbouring Syria to 3,613.- AFP

The combined death toll rose to more than 2,700 for Turkey and Syria on Monday after the region’s strongest earthquake in nearly a century.

Turkey’s emergencies service said at least 1,762 people had died in the 7.8-magnitude quake, with another 1,000 confirmed fatalities in neighbouring Syria, putting the total at 2,762.- AFP

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared seven days of national mourning following the deadly quakes that hit the country Monday. Turkish flags will fly at half-staff across the nation and at its diplomatic missions overseas.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said at least 1,651 were dead and 11,119 injured across ten provinces. Hundreds more reported dead in neighboring Syria.

Another earthquake of 6.0 magnitude hit Turkey on Monday, the USSG said. The three separate quakes in Turkey has so far killed more than 1,100 people in the country. The death toll rose to 1,121 from a major earthquake that shook Turkey’s south early on Monday, and a total 7,634 people have been injured, an official from the disaster and emergencies management agency (AFAD) said.

Orhan Tatar, head of the AFAD department handling earthquake risks, told a media briefing that 2,834 buildings have been destroyed in the quake and the subsequent tremors centred on Kahramanmaras province, noting there had been 120 aftershocks.

China’s President Xi Jinping sent his condolences to Turkish and Syrian leaders on Monday after the most powerful earthquake in nearly a century hit their countries, killing more than 1,400 people.

Xi told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in separate messages he was “shocked” to learn of the disaster, and conveyed “deep condolences for the dead and sincere sympathy for their families as well as for the injured”, state broadcaster CCTV reported. - AFP

Iraqi Kurdistan said it was suspending oil exports through Turkey as a precaution after a deadly earthquake rocked its northern neighbour and Syria before dawn on Monday. -AFP

Ukraine said Monday it was ready to send emergency responders to Turkey following a deadly earthquake there that also left hundreds dead in neighbouring Syria.

“Ukraine stands ready to send a large group of rescue workers to Turkey to assist in crisis response. We are working closely with the Turkish side to coordinate their deployment,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter.

A 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck southeast Turkey Monday afternoon, the U.S. Geological Survey said, hours after an earlier quake killed more than 1,200 people in the region.

The shallow quake hit at 1:24 pm (1024 GMT) four kilometres (2.5 miles) south-southeast of the town of Ekinozu.

Turkish President raises quake death toll to 912, bringing the overall death toll in Turkey, Syria to more than 1,300.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government was preparing to send medical and rescue assistance to Turkey following Monday’s earthquake that killed hundreds in the country. -AFP

India is preparing NDRF teams along with specially trained dog squads as well as medical personnel for search and rescue operations in the earthquake-hit region of Turkey. The decision to send the teams was sent in a meeting attended by the Cabinet Secretary and representatives of relevant Ministries.

The Turkish armed forces have set up an air corridor to enable search and rescue teams to reach the zone affected by the major earthquake in southern Turkey, the country’s Defence Ministry said on Monday.

“We mobilized our planes to send medical teams, search, and rescue teams, and their vehicles to the earthquake zone,” the statement cited Defence Minister Hulusi Akar as saying.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday his country stood ready to provide emergency aid to Turkey and Syria after an earthquake that killed hundreds in both countries.

“France is ready to provide emergency relief to the populations on the ground. Our thoughts are with the bereaved families,” Mr. Macron tweeted. -AFP

Turkey’s maritime authority said on Monday that the Iskenderun port located in the southern Turkish province of Hatay is damaged due to the major earthquake.

Following its damage inspections, the authority said on Twitter that operations continue in ports besides Iskenderun.

President Vladimir Putin offered Russian assistance on Monday to Syria and Turkey after a major earthquake of magnitude 7.8 killed more than 500 people and injured thousands in the two countries.

Russia, which is closely allied with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, maintains a significant military presence in that country. Putin also has a strong rapport with President Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, a NATO member who has nevertheless sought to mediate in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. -Reuters

There is no damage to the Kerkuk-Ceyhan pipeline carrying oil from Iraq to Turkey, or to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, and oil flows are continuing on both after a major earthquake hit Turkey, an energy official told Reuters on Monday.

However, operations at the Ceyhan oil terminal in southern Turkey were suspended, the Tribeca shipping agency said, adding that an emergency meeting was being held on the issue.

The eastern Mediterranean terminal is some 155 km (96 miles) from the area of the quake’s epicenter. -Reuters

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised aid on Monday after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Turkey and Syria, killing hundreds of people as they slept.

“We are following the news of the earthquake in the Turkish-Syrian border region with shock,” Mr. Scholz said on Twitter. “Germany will of course send help.” -AFP

The European Union is sending rescue teams and preparing further help for Turkey after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake killed hundreds of people, the bloc’s crisis management commissioner said Monday.

“Teams from the Netherlands and Romania are already on their way,” with the EU’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre overseeing their deployment, commissioner Janez Lenarcic tweeted. -AFP

The devastating earthquake across Turkey and Syria has toppled hundreds of buildings and killed at least 641 people. Hundreds were still believed to be trapped under rubble, and the toll was expected to rise as rescue workers searched mounds of wreckage in cities and towns across the area.

-AP

“Anguished by the loss of lives and damage of property due to the Earthquake in Turkey. Condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon. India stands in solidarity with the people of Turkey and is ready to offer all possible assistance to cope with this tragedy,” the Prime Minister said on Monday, as casualties continue to soar.

-PTI

The death toll across Syria and Turkey has crossed 560, with hundreds injured, and the toll was expected to rise as rescue workers searched the rubble in cities and towns across the area.

At least 20 aftershocks followed the first tremor, some hours later during daylight, the strongest measuring 6.6, Turkish authorities said.

“We fear that the deaths are in the hundreds,” Muheeb Qaddour, a doctor, said by phone from Syria’s Atmeh, referring to the entire rebel-held area.

-AP

Flights have been suspended at Turkey’s international Hatay Airport due to damage from the devastating earthquake, the Vice President said. The Gaziantep Airport has also suspended civil flights, he added.

-Reuters

The overall death toll from the powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit southern Turkey and northern Syria early Monday rose to 360 as health officials in the Syrian capital of Damascus reported 237 deaths in the government-held areas of the country.

Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management agency said at least 76 people in seven Turkish provinces. The agency said 440 people were injured. The death toll in government-held areas of Syria climbed to 111 with at least 516 injured, according to Syrian state media. Earlier, 47 people were reported killed in rebel-held areas.

Buildings were reported collapsed in a swath from Syria’s cities of Aleppo and Hama to Turkey’s Diyarbakir, more than 330 km to the northeast.

-AP

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

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 floodings.

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

-AFP

Italian authorities have reduced tsunami alert in Italy after the earthquake in Syria.

-Reuters

More than 110 people have been killed Monday in government-held parts of Syria, the Syrian Health Ministry said.

“516 injuries and 111 deaths recorded in the provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama and Tartus,” the Ministry said in a statement. Earlier, a local hospital told AFP at least eight were killed in the northern areas controlled by pro-Turkish factions -- bringing the country’s total to at least 119 dead.

-AFP

Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management agency said the 7.8 magnitude earthquake killed at least 76 people in seven Turkish provinces. The agency said 440 people were injured.

At least 195 people were killed in both Turkey and Syria, hundreds were injured and the toll was expected to rise.

-AP

U.S. President Joe Biden directed USAID and other federal government partners to assess response options to the most affected areas in the Turkey and Syria earthquake, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement on Sunday.

The United States is profoundly concerned by the reports of the destructive earthquake, he said.

-Reuters

Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management agency says the 7.8 magnitude earthquake killed at least 76 people in seven Turkish provinces. The agency said 440 people were injured.

-Reuters

At least 53 people have died on February 6 in Turkey, local officials said.

Officials said 23 people died in the province of Malatya, 17 in Urfa, seven in Osmaniye, and six in Diyarbakir, although the toll threatened to climb much higher because of the heavy damage.

-AFP

At least 42 people died in government-controlled parts of Syria as several buildings collapsed after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake that had its epicentre in southeastern Turkey, state media said.

“Forty-two deaths and 200 injuries have been reported in Aleppo, Hama and Latakia as a result of the earthquake in a preliminary toll,” state news agency SANA said quoting a Health Ministry official.

-Reuters

Damage reports escalate from major earthquake; at least 18 deaths reported in Turkey and 13 in Syria.

-AP

At least eight people have been killed in north Syria after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake that originated in Turkey was felt across neighbouring countries.

“Eight people have died in the regions of Azaz and al-Bab,” a source at a local hospital said, adding that the number is likely to rise as search and rescue operations are ongoing.

-AFP

The Governor of Turkey’s Malatya province says 130 buildings have collapsed in the city.

-Reuters

Several buildings tumbled down in the neighbouring provinces of Malatya, Diyarbakir and Malatya, HaberTurk television reported. There was no immediate reports on casualties.

Syria’s state media reported that some buildings collapsed in the northern city of Aleppo and the central city of Hama.

In Damascus, buildings shook and many people went down to the streets in fear.

The quake jolted residents in Lebanon from beds, shaking buildings for about 40 seconds. Many residents of Beirut left their homes and took to the streets or drove in their cars away from buildings.

-AP

At least 15 people died in a major 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck southeastern Turkey on Monday, local officials said, although the toll threatened to climb much higher because many buildings were destroyed.

Locals officials said five people died in the province of Osmaniye and 10 more in Sanliurfa, which sits near Turkey’s border with Syria.

-AFP