A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake that destroyed buildings and other infrastructure in southern Turkey and northern Syria early Monday morning killed at least 350 people and injured hundreds more.
The earthquake, which was reported to have occurred on Monday at 4:17 a.m. local time (01:17 GMT) at a depth of about 17.9 km (11 miles), according to the US Geological Service, killed dozens of people and sent shockwaves through northern Syria, Cyprus, and Lebanon.
Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) put the magnitude of the quake at 7.4 near the cities of Kahramanmaras and Gaziantep, close to the Syrian border.
It said the tremor lasted for about a minute.
The quake, felt as far away as Cairo, affected area divided between government-held and opposition-held areas.
AFAD said at least 76 people have been confirmed dead in seven Turkish provinces while 440 people were injured.
About 111 have been reported dead in government-held areas of Syria with at least 516 injured.
Reports indicate that 20 people have so far been confirmed dead in rebel-held areas.
The death toll was expected to rise as emergency workers continue search of the massive ruins left behind by the massive earthquake for possible survivors and victims in cities on both sides of the border.
AP reported that in the Turkish city of Adana, witnesses said they heard one person calling for help from beneath the rubble of a building. “I don’t have the strength to carry on,” the person cried.
I have never felt anything like it in the 40 years I’ve lived,” said Erdem, a resident of the Turkish city of Gaziantep, near the quake’s epicentre, who declined to give his surname.
“We were shaken at least three times very strongly, like a baby in a crib.”
Further east in Diyarbakir, cranes and rescue teams worked at a mountain of pancaked concrete floors that was once an apartment building.
On the Syrian side of the border, the quake also destroyed opposition-held regions that are packed with some 4 million people displaced from other parts of Syria by the country’s long civil war.
Many of them live in decrepit conditions with little health care. At least 11 were killed in one town, Atmeh, and many more were buried in the rubble, a doctor in the town, Muheeb Qaddour, told The Associated Press by telephone.
“We fear that the deaths are in the hundreds,” Qaddour said, referring to the rebel-held northwest. “We are under extreme pressure.”
At least 20 aftershocks followed, some hours later during daylight, the strongest measuring 6.6, Turkish authorities said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Twitter that “search and rescue teams were immediately dispatched” to the areas hit by the quake.
“We hope that we will get through this disaster together as soon as possible and with the least damage,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, the United States of America said it is ready to support rescue efforts following a 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Turkey, the US has told Turkish officials.
In a tweet, White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan said the US was “profoundly concerned by today’s destructive earthquake”.
“I have been in touch with Turkish officials to relay that we stand ready to provide any and all needed assistance.
“We will continue to closely monitor the situation in coordination with [Turkey],” Mr Sullivan said.