On Tuesday, rescuers worked in a “race against time” to pull people from the rubble of collapsed buildings after an earthquake struck Turkey and Syria earlier that day. The death toll from the 7.8 magnitude quake surpassed 5,000. With thousands of buildings, hospitals and schools destroyed and tens of thousands of people injured in several Turkish and Syrian cities. President, Tayyip Erdogan announced ten provinces as disaster area, ordering a three-month state of emergency in these regions. According to a United Nations official, thousands of children may have died.
The harsh winter weather slowed search efforts and aid delivery, worsening the plight of the homeless. Aid officials expressed significant concern about the situation in Syria being already in the grip of a humanitarian crisis, after nearly 12 years of civil war.
Authorities in Syria reported deaths as far south as Hama, about 100 kilometers from the geographic center.
The earthquake was the largest recorded by the US Geological Survey, followed by an earthquake in the remote South Atlantic in August 2021.
“We are now in a race against time,” said World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “With each passing minute and hour, the chances of finding survivors diminish.”
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