Photo: Collected-
Metropolis Desk-
More than 5,100 people have died after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit southern Turkey and neighboring Syria.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday announced a state of emergency for three months in 10 regions hit, as rescuers continue to dig through the rubble of collapsed buildings in search of survivors.
The massive quake, one of the largest to strike the quake-prone area in the past century, is raising fears of a new humanitarian crisis in a region strained by years of war, displacement and economic hardship.
A day after the quakes hit, rescuers working in harsh conditions were struggling to dig people out of the rubble of collapsed buildings in a “race against time”.
As the scale of the disaster became ever more apparent, the death toll looked likely to rise considerably. One United Nations official said it was feared thousands of children may have been killed.
Thousands of buildings were toppled, hospitals and schools wrecked and tens of thousands of people were injured or left homeless in several Turkish and Syrian cities by the magnitude 7.8 quake – the deadliest in Turkey since 1999 – and a second one hours later.
Bitter winter weather hampered rescue efforts and the delivery of aid, and made the plight of the homeless even more miserable. Some areas were without fuel and electricity.
