Vice President: At Least 3,419 People Killed as Quakes Hit Southern Türkiye

Ankara, MINA – At least 3,419 people were killed and 20,534 others injured in 10 provinces of Türkiye after two strong earthquakes on Monday jolted the southern part of the country, Vice President Fuat Oktay said on Tuesday, Anadolu Agency reported.

Early Monday morning, a 7.7 magnitude tremor struck the Pazarcik district of Kahramanmaras province, then about nine hours later, a 7.6 magnitude quake centered in Kahramanmaras’s Elbistan district rocked the region, affecting several other provinces, including Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa.

The earthquake was also felt in several countries in the region, including Lebanon and Syria.

“More than 8,000 people have been rescued from the rubble so far,” Oktay said.

At least 315 aftershocks have been recorded since the two major quakes, he added.

“A total of 3,294 search and rescue personnel reached Türkiye from 14 countries, including Azerbaijan and Russia”,the vice president said.

As many as 5,775 buildings collapsed, said Orhan Tatar, general director of earthquake and risk reduction at the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD).

He added that more than 24,000 personnel are currently conducting search and rescue operations.

Tatar said the impact area of the quakes covers approximately 110,000 square kilometers (42,500 square miles).

“Some 13.5 million citizens have been directly affected by the quakes,” said Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)