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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. Earthquakes of this magnitude are rare, with fewer than five occurring each year on average, anywhere in the world. Seven quakes with magnitude 7.0 or greater have struck Turkey in the past 25 years – but Monday’s is the most powerful. Karl Lang, an assistant professor at Georgia Tech University’s School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, told CNN the area hit by the quake Monday is prone to seismic activity. “It’s a very large fault zone, but this is a larger earthquake than they’ve experienced any time in recent memory,” Lang said.
Rescuers are racing to find survivors trapped beneath rubble either side of the Turkey-Syrian border as the death toll from one of the strongest earthquakes to hit the region in 100 years rose beyond 1,000 people. Thousands more were injured as the 7.8-magnitude quake shook residents from their beds around 4 a.m. Monday, sending tremors as far away as Lebanon and Israel. The earthquake’s epicenter was 23 kilometers (14.2 miles) east of Nurdagi, in Turkey’s Gaziantep province, at a depth of 24.1 kilometers (14.9 miles), the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said. Video from the scene in Turkey showed day breaking over rows of collapsed buildings, some with apartments exposed to the elements as people huddled in the freezing cold beside them, waiting for help. At least 912 people have died in Turkey and more than 2,400 people have been rescued from under the rubble, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a televised address Monday. In neighboring Syria, at least 386 people died, including 239 mostly in the regions of Aleppo, Hama, Latakia and Tartus, Syrian state TV reported. The “White Helmets” group, officially known as the Syria Civil Defense, also reported at least 147 deaths in opposition-controlled areas of northwestern Syria. Much of northwestern Syria, which borders Turkey, is controlled by anti-government forces amid a bloody civil war that began in 2011.
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. Earthquakes of this magnitude are rare, with fewer than five occurring each year on average, anywhere in the world. Seven quakes with magnitude 7.0 or greater have struck Turkey in the past 25 years – but Monday’s is the most powerful. Karl Lang, an assistant professor at Georgia Tech University’s School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, told CNN the area hit by the quake Monday is prone to seismic activity. “It’s a very large fault zone, but this is a larger earthquake than they’ve experienced any time in recent memory,” Lang said.
Rescuers are racing to find survivors trapped beneath rubble either side of the Turkey-Syrian border as the death toll from one of the strongest earthquakes to hit the region in 100 years rose beyond 1,000 people. Thousands more were injured as the 7.8-magnitude quake shook residents from their beds around 4 a.m. Monday, sending tremors as far away as Lebanon and Israel. The earthquake’s epicenter was 23 kilometers (14.2 miles) east of Nurdagi, in Turkey’s Gaziantep province, at a depth of 24.1 kilometers (14.9 miles), the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said. Video from the scene in Turkey showed day breaking over rows of collapsed buildings, some with apartments exposed to the elements as people huddled in the freezing cold beside them, waiting for help. At least 912 people have died in Turkey and more than 2,400 people have been rescued from under the rubble, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a televised address Monday. In neighboring Syria, at least 386 people died, including 239 mostly in the regions of Aleppo, Hama, Latakia and Tartus, Syrian state TV reported. The “White Helmets” group, officially known as the Syria Civil Defense, also reported at least 147 deaths in opposition-controlled areas of northwestern Syria. Much of northwestern Syria, which borders Turkey, is controlled by anti-government forces amid a bloody civil war that began in 2011.
