7.8 Magnitude Earthquake in Turkey

FEB 6, 2023
[...]

“Some of the bastions in the east, south and south-east parts of the historical Gaziantep Castle in the central Şahinbey district were destroyed by the earthquake; the debris was scattered on the road,” the Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu reported.

Damage to Gaziantep Castle.

Damage to Gaziantep Castle. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

“The iron railings around the court were scattered on the surrounding sidewalks. The retaining wall next to the castle also collapsed. In some bastions, large cracks were observed after the earthquake,” it added.

Parts of the castle, located on high ground in the centre of modern-day Gaziantep, are believed to date back to the Hittite empire, but the main building was constructed by the Romans in the second and third centuries. It was later strengthened and expanded during the period of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I, who was called the “Architect of Castles”, according to Turkish Museums, a government-run website.

[...]

Historic castle in Turkey badly damaged by earthquake​

 
That is a strong earthquake. So scary at 4 am in the morning. Earthquakes are so unsettling, and I bet that the aftershocks will continue for the next few days.

Looks cold there too. I hope that the Red Cross/Red Crescent services can help the survivors.
Aftershocks...

At least 100 aftershocks measuring 4.0 or greater have occurred since the 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey on Monday morning local time, according to the United States Geological Survey.

As the time from the original earthquake extends, the frequency and magnitude of the aftershocks tend to decrease. However, 5.0 to 6.0-plus aftershocks are still likely to occur and bring a risk of additional damage to structures that are compromised from the original earthquake. This brings a continued threat to rescue teams and survivors.

The aftershocks stretch for more than 300 kilometers (186 miles) along the fault zone that ruptured in southern Turkey, oriented from southwest to northeast and stretching from the border with Syria up through the province of Malatya.

 

New strong quake reported in central Turkey

A new strong earthquake is now reported in central Turkey.
The US Geological Survey says a 5.5 magnitude tremor was at a depth of 10km (6 miles) near the town of Golbasi.
Meanwhile, the France-based European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) put the strength of the quake near Golbasi at 5.6, adding that it was at a depth of 2km.
Both agencies said the tremor happened at 03:13 GMT on Tuesday. They provided no further details.

 
5 hr 29 min ago

"We are racing with time": Rescue workers and survivors face freezing conditions in Turkey and Syria​


Search-and-rescue efforts continue through cold weather conditions in Malatya, Turkey, on February 7.
Search-and-rescue efforts continue through cold weather conditions in Malatya, Turkey, on February 7. (Sercan Kucuksahin/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

[...]

Cold weather ahead: Temperatures are already bitterly low, but are forecast to fall several degrees below zero on Wednesday.

Central Turkey is at its "coldest point" for this time of the year, CNN's senior meteorologist Britley Ritz said.

Meanwhile, in Aleppo, Syria, temperatures are expected to stay at zero or below.

Scattered showers and snow in the region are expected to continue, putting the lives of those trapped underneath the rubble, who have already gone days without food and water, at risk of hypothermia.
 
FEB 8, 2023
Turkey’s president has rejected growing criticism of the authorities’ response to Monday’s huge earthquakes, as the death toll passed 15,000 across Turkey and Syria and rescuers continued to pull survivors from the freezing rubble.

[...]

“Of course, there are shortcomings. The conditions are clear to see. It’s not possible to be ready for a disaster like this,” Erdoğan said on a visit to Hatay, a southern province that has the highest death toll in the country.

[...]

Survivors in southern Turkey and north-west Syria, meanwhile, spent a second night in the freezing cold, many taking refuge in their cars or under blankets in the streets, fearful of going back into potentially seriously weakened buildings.

A winter storm and subzero temperatures have rendered many roads in the region – some of them already severely damaged by the earthquakes – almost impassable, resulting in traffic jams that stretch for miles in some areas. A lack of heavy equipment is also severely hindering the rescue effort.

[...]

“The health needs are tremendous,” said Dr Iman Shankiti, the WHO representative for Syria, with many thousands injured and a healthcare system shattered by civil war. In Turkey, the WHO representative Batyr Berdyklychev said more than 53,000 people were injured.

[...]

Many countries have so far pledged aid, and international rescue teams have begun to arrive. For those in the stricken areas, help could not come soon enough. “Where are the tents, where are food trucks?” Melek, 64, in the southern city of Antakya, asked a Reuters reporter.

“We haven’t seen any food distribution here. We survived the earthquake, but we will die here due to hunger or cold here.”

[...]

Authorities have said about 13.5 million people have been affected in Turkey. Aid officials were particularly alarmed, however, by the situation in Syria, already devastated by 11 years of a civil war that has hugely complicating relief efforts.

“Even the buildings that haven’t collapsed have been severely damaged. There are now more people under the rubble than those above it,” a resident named Hassan, who did not give his full name, said in the rebel-held town of Jindaris.

“There are 400 to 500 people trapped under each collapsed building with only 10 trying to pull them out, and no machinery,” he told AFP. Mohammed Shibli, of the White Helmets rescue group, said people were “dying every second” and appealed for help.

[...]
 

A Dutch expert published a tweet on his Twitter account three days before the earthquake in Turkey on Monday, predicting that a powerful earthquake would happen imminently in Turkey.
He even attached an aerial photograph and marked the area where the disaster would happen.

 

A Dutch expert published a tweet on his Twitter account three days before the earthquake in Turkey on Monday, predicting that a powerful earthquake would happen imminently in Turkey.
He even attached an aerial photograph and marked the area where the disaster would happen.
sbm
I see a lot less aftershocks now on USGS, but that person also said one of them could be a big one, I sincerely hope not.
Apparently the institute he's with are predicting earthquakes going by the positions of the planets and such, which may sound like hocus pocus, but we know the moon, solar storms and other things in space affect the earth, so why not this.

Death toll is at over 19 000 now =***(
(AP)
UN aid has finally reached Syria
(CNN)
.............
 
FEB 9, 2023
[...]

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) said Thursday’s convoy, made up of six trucks carrying shelter items and Non Food Items (NFI), crossed through the Bab Al Hawa crossing – the only humanitarian aid corridor between Turkey and Syria.

“The UN cross-border aid operation has been reinstated today. We are relieved that we are able to reach the people in northwest Syria in this pressing time. We hope that this operation continues as this is a humanitarian lifeline and the only scalable channel,” Sanjana Quazi, head of OCHA Türkiye said.

The delivery on Thursday ends a three-day period during which no aid arrived at the Bab al-Hawa border crossing from Turkey to rebel-held areas of northern Syria – just 300 bodies, according to the administration that controls the only access point between the two countries.

[...]
 
I fear the death toll will reach 30,000, worse than the earthquake in Iran in 2003, and worse than the one in Japan in 2011
( + tsunami). The one in Iran was a 6.6 and also happened at night when people were sleeping.

This one seems so widespread, and just looking at the aerials of so many flattened buildings in multiple locations, and the fact that areas in Syria are so difficult to reach, plus the freezing temperatures, I think the toll will just climb.

Such a monumental tragedy....


b8102b54-b591-4446-8940-a3658dc37863.png

^ the number for Turkey/Syria has already reached nearly 20,000.


(heard from my artist/sea captain friend in Tartus, he and family are safe)
 
I fear the death toll will reach 30,000, worse than the earthquake in Iran in 2003, and worse than the one in Japan in 2011
( + tsunami). The one in Iran was a 6.6 and also happened at night when people were sleeping.

This one seems so widespread, and just looking at the aerials of so many flattened buildings in multiple locations, and the fact that areas in Syria are so difficult to reach, plus the freezing temperatures, I think the toll will just climb.

Such a monumental tragedy....
sbm bbm
Looking at those huge piles from collapsed buildings I sadly agree with you.
As more and more rescue teams and equipment come in, more people will be found quicker, but I think at this point most of those still underneath will not be found alive, considering it's also freezing cold where they are, lack of oxygen and breathing in dust for two days.
I saw some terrifying clips on Twitter from people stuck, just hurts my heart and my stomach and makes me want to cry...
Monumental tragedy indeed... (

eta: 20 000 =****(
 
Last edited:
FEB 10, 2023
[...]

But there are wider geological implications to the quake that may have consequences in the longer term slowly coming into focus. In the coastal city of İskenderun, there appears to have been significant subsidence, which has resulted in flooding, while the quake has left many hillsides around the country at a serious risk of landslip. This may result in roads and pipelines having to be rerouted and communities rehomed.

[...]

The subsidence in the city of İskenderun can be seen in CNN footage from the afternoon of 7 February – more than 24 hours after the first deadly quake struck. It shows vehicles driving along waterlogged roads, accompanied by reports that the sea had encroached 200 metres inland. ...

[...]

Cloudy weather prevented satellite imagery from being gathered immediately after the quake, but clearer skies on subsequent days have revealed significant numbers of landslides and rockfalls across the region. A map produced by the United States Geological Survey suggests that extensive landslip is likely to have occurred in the hilly region to the north of the city of Gaziantep, with tens of thousands of people affected. “Based upon this we are likely to see some landslide fatalities plus substantial numbers of roads blocked by failures. This will impede the rescue work, especially … in more remote areas,” writes Dave Petley on his Landslide Blog.

The Turkish media outlet Sokağın Sesi Gazetesi tweeted a short video of a landslip on the road between Adana and Gaziantep, showing how some upland communities will have been completely cut off by landslides caused by the quakes.

“Most of the footage continues to feature collapses in the urban areas, with very little from the more rural areas. The picture in the more remote parts of the epicentral zone is likely to be desperate,” wrote Petley.
 
6 hr 29 min ago

Death toll crosses 24,000

The number of people killed following Monday's devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria has reached at least 24,178, according to authorities.

In Turkey, the death toll has risen to at least 20,665, according to the country's disaster and emergency management presidency SAKOM.

In Syria, the total number or dead stands at 3,513, including 2,166 in rebel-held areas in the northwest of the country, according to the ‘White Helmets’ civil defense – and 1,347 deaths in government-controlled parts of Syria, according to Syrian state media.

2 hr 13 min ago

"We're approaching the end of the search and rescue window," says UN liaison officer in Turkey

Speaking from Adana, southern Turkey, on Saturday, Belit Tasdemir, UN liaison officer at AKUT Search and Rescue Association, told CNN: "The sheer level of, and how widespread the devastation is, is completely unprecedented in terms of what we've seen before in Turkey."

Describing the recue efforts as "mammoth," Tasdemir said the teams are working across a vast area and in "below freezing" temperatures.

"We're approaching the end of the search and rescue window, and plus the probability of finding survivors under the rubble in below freezing temperatures is becoming a lower probability."
 

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