Guwahati: Turkey has seen at least 95 deaths and many more are suspected to be trapped under the rubble following two powerful earthquakes that shook the country early on Monday.
Today, reports of a powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake that shook central Turkey and a 6.8-magnitude earthquake that followed them both surfaced. Ten minutes separated the two tremors.
According to reports, the tremors were felt as far away as Cyprus, Lebanon, and Syria. Major damage was done by the earthquake, which led to the collapse of many buildings. Officials reported that the earthquake caused numerous buildings in Aleppo, in northern Syria, to collapse.
Meanwhile, President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan tweeted saying, “Search and rescue teams have been immediately dispatched to the areas hit by the earthquake.”
Moreover, a witness for Reuters in Diyarbakir, which is around 350 kilometres to the east, reported that window glass were broken in the earthquakes, which lasted for about a minute.
Furthermore, the Turkish Red Cross head urged people to abandon destroyed buildings right away and stated that the group is working to organise assistance efforts in the impacted areas.
The suffering of individuals as the jolts caused chaos in Turkey has been highlighted in a number of videos that have surfaced on social media platforms.
Reportedly, the initial earthquake had a Richter scale magnitude of about 7.8. Soon after, a second earthquake with a magnitude of about 6.8 occurred.
According to the news agency Associated Press, the epicentre of the earthquakes was roughly 20 miles or 33 kilometres from the province capital and large city of Gaziantep. 16 miles or 26 kilometres separated it from Nurdagi town.
On the other hand, the National Center for Seismology (NCS) said that the first earthquake, which was felt about 6.47 am, registered about 7.5 on the Richter scale (IST). The epicentre was located at 399 kilometres north-northeast (NNE) of Beirut, Lebanon, and the depth of the earthquake was approximately 10 kilometres.
In a further tweet, NCS mentioned that the initial quake was followed by a 6.8 magnitude tremor at around 6.58 am (IST). The location was estimated at around 412 kilometers North East (NE) of Nicosia, Cyprus.