The death toll from the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria on Monday has exceeded 5,000 people, as thousands of rescuers continue to dig through the rubble of thousands of collapsed buildings in search of survivors.
Turkish authorities reported 3,419 deaths and 20,534 injuries Tuesday morning. 5,775 buildings were collapsed by the quake.
In Syria total of 1,602 deaths and 3,649 injuries were reported.
24,400 people are involved in Turkish search and rescue.
The deadly earthquake that struck in the early hours of Monday was felt in Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and Egypt.
The quake was followed by dozens of aftershocks, including an unusually powerful 7.5-magnitude quake, the U.S. Geological Survey said..
This is one of the strongest earthquakes to hit Turkey in more than 100 years.
The killer 7.8 earthquake was centred north of the city of Gaziantep about 90 kilometres (60 miles) from the Syrian border. This is the region which houses millions of refugees from the Syrian civil war.
The quake struck just after 4 a.m. Monday morning local time, 23 kilometers (14.2 miles) east of Nurdagi, Gaziantep province, at a depth of 24.1 kilometers (14.9 miles), the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said.
Monday’s quake is believed to be the strongest to hit Turkey since 1939, when an earthquake of the same magnitude killed 30,000 people, according to the USGS.
In the past 25 years, seven quakes with magnitude 7.0 or greater have struck Turkey – but Monday’s quake is the most powerful according to reports.
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
