Rubble, death as quakes pound Turkey and Syria

ADANA, TURKEY/DAMASCUS: A series of earthquakes, including the most powerful to strike in nearly a century, killed thousands of people across Turkey and Syria on Monday, sparked frantic rescues, and was felt as far away as Greenland, leaving large urban centres in rubble and raising fears that the true death toll could be several times more.

The first, a magnitude 7.8 quake, which hit before sunrise in bitter winter, reduced buildings to piles of pancaked floors, with hundreds still believed to be trapped.

More than 2,651 people were killed in the two countries, with Turkish health minister Fahrettin Koca saying at least 1,651 were dead in his country alone.

In Syria, already wrecked by more than 11 years of civil war and other conflicts, at least 1,000 people were reported dead.

The pre-dawn earthquake, that jolted residents on both sides of the border out of sleep, was followed in the early afternoon by another large quake of magnitude 7.7, and then one of magnitude 6 a few hours later.

Rescue workers and residents in multiple cities searched for survivors, working through tangles of metal and concrete. A hospital in Turkey collapsed, and patients, including newborns, were evacuated from facilities in Syria.

Offers of help from search and-rescue teams to medical supplies and money poured in from dozens of countries, including India, the European Union and Nato allies.

Two of India’s National Disaster Response Force teams, comprising 100 personnel with dog squads and equipment, were ready to be flown to the affected area, the foreign ministry said. Doctors and paramedics with medicines were also being readied.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was anguished” and deeply pained” by the deaths in Turkey with whom India has frosty relations and Syria.

At least 11,119 people were injured and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he could not predict how much the death toll would rise as search and rescue efforts continued. He added that at least 2,818 buildings had collapsed.

“Everyone is putting their heart and soul into efforts although winter season, cold weather and the earthquake happening during the night makes things more difficult,” he said.