A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck early on Thursday near China’s far western Xinjiang region in a sparsely populated, remote area of Tajikistan, according to officials . There were no reported accidents or losses.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the epicentre was 20 kilometres (12 miles) below ground and located 67 kilometres (41 miles) west of Murghob, Tajikistan.
High in the Pamir Mountains, Mughrob—which has a population of a few thousand—is the district capital.
In some areas of Kashgar prefecture and Kizilsu Kyrgyz autonomous prefecture in Xinjiang, the quake was felt strongly across the border, but no injuries or property damage have yet been reported, according to state media CCTV, which cited local information officers.
China’s Earthquake Networks Center said the quake was magnitude 7.2 and 10 kilometers (6 miles) deep. Measurements by different agencies often differ.
Five aftershocks ranging from magnitude 4.6 to 5 followed later on Thursday morning, with their epicenters likewise located west of Murghob, Tajikistan’s state Khovar agency reported.
A further magnitude 5 quake was recorded in the early afternoon 86 kilometers (53 miles) west of the city, Tajik State Emergencies Committee spokeswoman Umeda Yusufi said. Neither referenced any injuries or damage.
Major earthquakes, like the 7.8-magnitude quake that struck Turkey and Syria on Monday, have well-established causes. Despite this, they are still difficult to predict.
Although science and technology have advanced, it is still essentially impossible to predict exactly when and where earthquakes will occur.
“Earthquake prediction has always been kind of a holy grail,” said Wendy Bohon, an earthquake geologist who works as a communications strategist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. “If we could tell people exactly when an earthquake was going to happen, we could take steps to mitigate against it. But Earth is a very complicated system.”
Part of the challenge is that the very nature of earthquakes makes them unpredictable events. When one does occur, it happens quickly.
“An earthquake is not like a slow-moving train that eventually picks up speed. It’s a sudden, accelerated event,” said Ben van der Pluijm, a professor of geology at the University of Michigan.
Earthquakes also tend to strike with little to no warning. Though scientists have investigated potential precursor events — everything from shifts in subsurface sounds to potential increases in a region’s seismic activity to changes in animal behavior — they have so far been unable to pinpoint any consistent signals that shaking is imminent.
The lack of any clear pattern makes it difficult to create reliable forecasts akin to weather reports.
Additionally, the processes that underpin earthquakes — the mashing and colliding of tectonic plates and the energy that builds up as a result — tend to play out over long periods of time. Scientists can, for instance, gauge that an earthquake will likely strike an area some time in the next 200 years, which may be specific on geologic timescales. On human time scales? Not so much.
“We have an incredibly good idea of where we expect earthquakes, and even the sizes that we can expect for large earthquakes in these areas, but that does not help us to narrow that down to a human timescale,” van der Pluijm said.
Still, there are ways to prepare. The USGS has developed an early-warning system called ShakeAlert that detects when a significant earthquake has occurred in California, Oregon and Washington and then issues radio, television and cellular alerts saying that strong shaking is imminent. In most cases, the alerts offer only a few seconds of warning, but that time can be extremely valuable, said van der Pluijm.
“Twenty seconds sounds very short, but it’s enough time for you to find a place under a desk to take cover,” he said. “It’s not a prediction, but ShakeAlert is a huge step forward because it can minimize the inevitable impact.”
One of the most important ways to prepare for an earthquake is to be aware of the risks, Bohon said. For policymakers, this means ensuring that critical infrastructure is protected in earthquake-prone areas.
“What we need to do is to make sure we understand what can happen and build to withstand that,” she said. “We have to make sure people know what to do. We have to make sure that our cities are able to be resilient in the face of those hazards so that we don’t just survive the earthquake, we can survive in the aftermath.”
Turkey’s disaster and emergency agency Afad said the tremor occurred at 20:04 local time (17:04 GMT), followed by dozens of aftershocks.
A 7.8-magnitude quake struck the same area on 6 February, killing more than 44,000 people in Turkey and Syria.
Those killed by Monday’s tremor were found in Antakya, Defne, and Samandagi, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said, urging people not to enter potentially dangerous buildings.
Mr Soylu said 213 people had been injured in Turkey.
Witnesses told the Reuters news agency there had been further damage to buildings in Antakya, while the mayor of Hatay, in southern Turkey, said people were trapped under rubble.
“I thought the earth was going to split open under my feet,” Muna al-Omar, a local resident, told Reuters, crying as she held her seven-year-old son. She was in a tent in a park in central Antakya when the latest earthquake hit, she said.
Turkish authorities have recorded more than 6,000 aftershocks since the 6 February earthquake, but the BBC’s team in the region said the latest tremor felt much stronger than previous ones.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 470 injured people had visited hospitals after the quake, which was also reportedly felt in Egypt and Lebanon.
Afad said there were 32 aftershocks following Monday’s tremor, the largest of which had a magnitude of 5.8.
There is fear and panic in the streets – lines of ambulances and rescue crews are trying to get to some of the worst affected areas where the walls of badly damaged buildings have collapsed.
A number of structures that were left standing after the tremor on 6 February have now crumbled, including a bridge. Many cracks in roads have become deep scars making it more difficult for the emergency services to get where they may be needed.
An AFP journalist reported on scenes of panic in Antakya, the capital of Hatay Province which was already devastated by the previous earthquake – with the latest tremors raising clouds of dust in the city.
The walls of buildings also crumbled, AFP reports, with several apparently injured people calling for help.
Ali Mazlum said he was looking for the bodies of family members from the previous earthquake when the latest one hit.
“You don’t know what to do… we grabbed each other and right in front of us, the walls started to fall. It felt like the earth was opening up to swallow us up,” he said.
In a tweet, Afad initially urged people to stay away from coastlines as a precaution against the risk of rising sea levels, although the warning was later removed.
About two weeks after the horrific earthquake that occurred on Monday, February 6, 2023, anotherearthquakeis said to have struck Turkey and Syria.
According to the global news community, AJ+, the earthquake hit the border of Turkey and Syria and had a magnitude of 6.3.
In a tweet shared on Monday, February 20, 2023, AJ+ added that no causalities have been reported but there were damages to structures.
“BREAKING: A 6.3 earthquake hit the Turkey-Syria border, two weeks after the devastating earthquake.
“No new casualties were immediately reported but witnesses report damage. Turkey has reported over 6,000 aftershocks since the February 6 earthquake killed over 46,000 people,” parts of the tweet read.
Meanwhile, the mortal remains of former Black Stars winger, Christian Atsu, who was trapped in the February 6, 2023 earthquake that hit parts of Turkey and Syria, have been returned to Ghana.
After a 12-day search, his remains were found under the rubble on February 18, before it was transported to Ghana, arriving on Sunday from Istanbul.
The earthquake, the second-largest in the last century anywhere in the world, has already claimed more than 40,000 lives both in Turkey and neighbouring Syria, CNN reports.
Among the “inappropriate” donations given to earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria, pole heels, filthy lingerie, and torn and damaged apparel were found.
Volunteers are shown in videos posted to TikTok going through crates of help and taking stuff out, including 10-inch latex heels.
Another video displayed lingerie being dragged out, a brown-stained towel, and a silver disco crop top.
‘Clothing collection drop-offs are not a place where you can empty your trash,’ a comment read.
‘Those people also have pride. Does your conscience not hurt at all? It is enough for God’s sake. Please, enough.’
Volunteers working around the clock as part of the relief efforts have appealed for ‘dignity in charity’.
A pair of ripped old leggings donated to victims of the earthquakesThere were also boxes of 10-inch heelsSome blankets were stained or ripped
Erim Metto, CEO of the Turkish Cypriot Community Association, based in London, told Metro.co.uk that a fifth of all donations were ‘inappropriate’ or ‘unusable’.
‘We were very clear about what donations we would accept. We did say we would not accept any inappropriate clothing,’ he said.
‘For example, no thin-layer clothing, dresses or high heels. When donations come through, we do a two-stage cycling system.
‘The first stage is removing any second-hand, no-good-for-anything donations.
‘Our volunteers filter these through and they are discarded – for example, hygiene products that are only half-full and have been used.
Hundreds of bags of donations were accepted by the TCCA (Picture: Turkish Cypriot Community Association)Volunteers have been working around the clock to sift through it and pack it (Picture: Turkish Cypriot Community Association)
‘This is not appropriate. Such donations are thrown away.
‘Once we get through that first stage, anything that is again not appropriate for the location we are gathering donations for, but is still usable, we would package separately and give to Trade.’
The sheer magnitude of the two earthquakes led to the deadliest natural disaster in the region in the last 100 years.
According to Turkish authorities, more than 36,000 people have been killed, and the death toll continues to rise.
Meanwhile, the Syrian government and the United Nations say more than 5,800 victims have been recorded across the border.
The TCCA stopped accepting donations because of the influx of clothes (Picture: Turkish Cypriot Community Association)
The world has watched in horror as hundreds of thousands of people in the two countries have been left without shelter and warm clothes in as low as 0°C.
Mr Metto, a filmmaker from Turkish-Cypriot descent, said donations were far higher than in the past.
On the day the earthquakes took place, TCCA received more than 240 phone calls from people desperate to help.
To put this in perspective, the association normally registers between 30 and 40 at the most.
‘We have done a lot of donation schemes in the past to help the homeless, people in Ukraine and we supported the community during Covid,’ the CEO said.
London mayor Sadiq Khan visited the TCCA earlier in the week (Picure: Turkish Cypriot Community Association)
‘But this time the donations were far higher than we expected. By Wednesday, we had already retracted our appeal for donations.’
Most organisations have stressed that money is the best way to help the victims of the catastrophic event.
What may be well-intentioned efforts to donate items such as clothing, becomes a logistical nightmare when having to be transported across the border.
Mr Metto said a number of organisations have been collecting anything they can without a system of sifting through it.
He said large lorries, which are independent from any official charities, have been transporting aid to Turkey and ‘dumping it on the side of the road’ because there are no available storage facilities.
Until he passed away on Saturday, February 18, 2023,Ghanaian professional football player, Christian Atsu Twasam, spent time with Hatayspor of Turkey’s top division.
While he may have spent the majority of his career playing on loan, Atsu had a pretty successful career playing for renowned clubs in Europe.
He had a special talent and was a great football player. He earned the nickname “Ghana Messi” for his amazing dribbling abilities.
Youth Career
Christian Atsu was born in Ada Foah in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. He attended the Feyenoord Football Academy in Gomoah Fetteh, now the West African Football Academy in Sogakope in the Volta Region of Ghana.
He later joined Cheetah FC for GHC3,000 from Feyenoord in 2009.
Senior career
Patrick Greveraars, a manager scouted him after he arrived at Porto at the age of 17. He was called by first-team manager André Villas-Boas for a Primeira Liga match against Marítimo on May 14, 2011, but he did not leave the bench.
Christian Atsu was sent on loan to fellow league side Rio Ave for the 2011–12 season. On August 28, 2011, he made his debut against Olhanense in a 0–1 home loss. He opened a score at Estádio da Luz against Benfica in the 24th minute, but the hosts eventually won it 5–1 on 16 December 2011.
The Ghanaian landed the first big move in his career in 2013 when he completed a £3.5 million transfer to English Premier League side, Chelsea.
He was sent out on a season-long loan right after the transfer to the Dutch side Vitesse Vitesse. He scored 5 goals in 25 games in the 2013-2014 season.
Atsu signed a five-year contract with Chelsea and spent all five years on loan at other clubs.
After the Vitesse loan deal, he was sent on another season-long loan to Everton, then to Bournemouth, and Malaga before spending the last year of his Chelsea contract at Newcastle United.
Newcastle secured the Ghanaian on a permanent deal in 2017 for £6.2 million from Chelsea. He spent four years at the club before joining Al-Raed as a free agent in 2021.
He played only 8 games for the club before joining Turkish side Hatayspor in September 2022 on an initial one-year contract.
He played three games and scored just one goal. His only goal for the club was a 90th-minute winner from a freekick against Kasimpa a night before the earthquake occurred in Turkey.
International career
Atsu won his first senior cap for Ghana on 1 June 2012 against Lesotho, scoring in the process. He was described by the BBC as an “excellent prospect”, whilst ESPN added he was “quick and technically impressive”, and a potential future star for his national team.
The following year, he was in the Ghanaian squad for the Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa. He started the first match, a 2–2 draw against DR Congo, and as a substitute in the following 1–0 win over Mali.
He returned to the starting line-up in the last group match against Niger in Port Elizabeth, scoring the second goal of a 3–0 win which put his country into the quarter-finals as group winners.
Atsu featured in the rest of Ghana’s matches as they came forth, scoring in their penalty shootout elimination by Burkina Faso.
Atsu was selected for the 2014 FIFA World Cup squad, starting in all the matches as Ghana was eliminated in the group stage.
At the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Atsu scored twice in a 3–0 win over Guinea in the quarter-finals. He helped the team to the final, where they lost in a penalty shootout against the Ivory Coast.
At the end of the tournament, he was awarded both the Player of the Tournament and the Goal of the Tournament for his strike against Guinea.
Personal life
Atsu was a devout Christian who shared Bible verses on social media. He was married to a German, Marie-Claire Rupio, with two sons and a daughter.
Honours
Primeira Liga: 2012–13
Supertaca Candido de Oliveira: 2012
EFL Championship: 2016–17
Africa Cup of Nations runner-up:2015
Vitesse Player of the Year: 2013–14
Africa Cup of Nations Player of the Tournament: 2015
Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament: 2015, 2017
Africa Cup of Nations Goal of the Tournament: 2015
Reports say former Black Stars player, Christian Atsu could not survive the earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria on February 6, 2023.
The former Chelsea player had been missing for close to two weeks after the incident. On February 7, there were reports that the 31-year-old had been found.
But barely 48 hours later, contradictory reports emerged. Since then, authorities have been searching for him.
Unfortunately, emerging reports look gloomy for Ghanaians and fans of the Hatayspor player.
Murat Uzunmehment, Chrisitan Atsu’s Turkish agent is said to have said: “We found Atsu. He lost his life. Sorry for your loss.”
Also, the player’s manager, Nana Sechere, on the matter, has said: “It is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to announce to all well-wishers that sadly Christian Atsu’s body was recovered this morning.”
Ibrahim Oppong Kwarteng, the executive director of the Crime Check Foundation, has stated that he has been informed that Christian Atsuleft his flat before the earthquake occurred.
Christian Atsu and his Hataysporclub technical director, Taner Savut, have both been missing since Monday, February 6, 2023, following a 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria.
His agent, Nana Sechere went to the site with a rescue team in search of his player but revealed that only a pair of his shoes were found at the apartment and that there was no sign of Christian Atsu.
Providing his own update, Ibrahim Oppong Kwarteng who has been working with Christian Atsu over the years, stated that he has been told the player left the apartment minutes before the earthquake hit his building.
“I have been briefed by the club that he was not in the building. He run to the parking garage to get his car out and it was during that period that the Renaissance building totally collapsed and that happened 20 minutes after he left the apartment.”
“Our brother was not in the building, he went out before the building collapsed. But I can’t confirm whether he will able to leave the parking garage with his car or not,” he added in his update on Crime Check’s YouTube page sighted by GhanaWeb.
After being rescued from her earthquake-damaged home in Turkey ten hours earlier, a Yemeni mother who had escaped the war in her homeland gave birth to a baby girl.
When the quake struck Faten Al Yousifi’s flat in Malatya, Turkey, just after 4 a.m. on Monday, she was 39 weeks pregnant, had decorated her baby’s nursery, and was prepared to give birth.
She was extracted from the wreckage by a family friend named Hisham and rescue workers after 10 hours of squatting, when she was bewildered, dehydrated, and worried about the safety of her unborn child.
“I did not believe I was still alive,” Faten told the BBC via WhatsApp on Thursday.
She was rushed to the hospital where the doctors carried out a Caesarean section to deliver her baby girl Loujain, meaning “silver” in Arabic.
But then came tragedy. Hisham returned to rescue Faten’s husband, and was shocked to see a nearby building had collapsed on top of their flats.
Faten’s husband, 29-year-old Burhan Al Alimi, had died. His body was recovered three days later. He was in his final year of chemical engineering studies at Inonu University in Malatya.
Like any new mother, Faten is sleep deprived and trying to adjust to her newborn’s feeding and sleep routines.
“The beginning was very difficult, especially with the circumstances,” she said.
Yemeni doctor Mohammed Al-Ara’awi, who arrived Turkey before the war, said he lost his wife, 16-year-old son and young daughter.
When the quake hit, he was in Adana city, but his family were in Hatay. After desperately trying to reach neighbours, he travelled to Hatay and was devastated to learn about his family trapped under the rubble.
“Waiting on the rubble was like the Yemeni war that people lived through,” he said from Istanbul.
Idris Aqlan, a 25-year-old student at Gaziantep University, was visiting Istanbul when the earthquake hit. He told the BBC that two Turkish friends died.
“I lived through many difficult situations in Yemen because of the war, but this one was much more difficult,” he said.
The sudden nature of the earthquake did not give people time to prepare, he explained. In war, he said, at least there is time to hide in cellars, in the desert, or in the mountains.
Melih Telci, a 28-year-old lawyer from Istanbul, knew what he had to do when he learned that a family of four had been made homeless in the province of Hatay following last week’s devastating earthquakes. He took his phone in hand.
He recalled calling them and telling them, “Come, our home is yours.”
The family arrived in Istanbul, where Telci met them and drove them to one of his family’s summer residences in Yalova, a northwest coastal town on the Sea of Marmara. “We set them up with everything—furniture, clothes, and food.” Now, I’m working on finding the father a job,” Telci said to Al Jazeera.
Telci’s family has two more summer homes in Yalova where they hope to welcome more families over the next few days.
They are among Turkish families across the county who are connecting with quake-stricken survivors through word of mouth, social media and the help of local authorities, and then giving shelter to the earthquake victims.
Ayse Arslan and her father in the garden of their family home in Armagan village in Trabzon, Turkey [Ayse Arslan/Al Jazeera]
‘I had to help’
Among those who have stepped forward are the people of Armagan village in the Black Sea province of Trabzon.
Located more than 500km (310 miles) north of the site of the deadly quakes that have left more than 41,000 people dead in Turkey and Syria, this small village of only a few hundred people is now hosting several families from Malatya – one of the 10 worst-hit southern Turkish provinces.
“When the earthquake hit, I knew I had to help,” said Ayse Arslan, a 51-year-old housewife from Armagan, currently living in Germany.
When she heard about her father’s friends – Nafiye and Mevlut Ozdemir in Malatya, who were stranded in subzero temperatures after their home was destroyed – she knew she had to do more.
“They were in desperate condition. I hadn’t much money, but I had a flat and that’s what I offered,” Arslan told Al Jazeera, explaining that she welcomed them into her empty apartment in Armagan.
“I imagined being in their shoes – losing everything. I’d need shelter to feel safe and dignified,” said Arslan, explaining that she encouraged her siblings and cousins to do the same.
“If we’ve a single loaf of bread, we must share it,” said Arslan, who bought the couple bus tickets to Trabzon.
Nafiye and Mevlut Ozdemir lost their home in Malatya due to the earthquake [Nafiye Ozdemir/Al Jazeera]
‘Opened her whole heart’
By the time the couple made it to Arslan’s place, they had experienced all kinds of hell.
“I don’t even want to remember those moments. I screamed till I lost my voice,” said Nafiye Ozdemir as she recounted the horrifying experience of the earthquake.
“Initially, we didn’t want to accept Ayse’s offer, but we really had no other option,” said the 54-year-old housewife. She detailed how she spent the first night sleeping in the snow without shoes or warm clothes.
The next three days, the couple – Mevlut is a cancer patient receiving chemotherapy – spent their nights at a hospital, then a school corridor and finally, holed up in a cave in the mountains.
“I am so grateful. Ayse not only opened her home to us, but her whole heart,” said Ozdemir.
Arslan and her community in Armagan have since taken in 21 survivors from Malatya, including two families with six young children now staying in two of her cousins’ flats.
With the help of family and friends in Germany, Arslan has so far fundraised more than 90,000 Turkish lire ($4,700) to support the families, securing everything from clothing to food and medication.
Rumeysa Otoman’s father, Ahmet Arkin (L) with his brother Sebhattin Arkin (R) who survived the earthquake in Hatay and came to stay with them in Bursa [Credit Rumeysa Otoman/Al Jazeera]
‘Our duty’
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has promised a sum of 10,000 lire ($530) for each affected household and promised to rebuild the destroyed homes within a year.
In the meantime, the Turkish government is housing survivors in university dormitories, hotels, and restaurants, as well as setting up tents as temporary accommodation.
But with an overwhelming need for urgent shelter for more than two million displaced people, according to the presidency’s estimates, dozens of volunteer groups have popped up across the country to coordinate efforts to house the survivors.
Like many, Rumeysa Otoman, a 35-year-old Turkish woman living in Bursa, in northwest Turkey, believes the government cannot shoulder the brunt of this disaster alone.
“The state’s doing what it can. It’s our duty to step in and do the same,” Otoman told Al Jazeera.
She is originally from Hatay, one of the worst-hit provinces in southern Turkey, where 17 members of her extended family were killed in the earthquakes. Many more remain unaccounted for as rescue workers continue to dig through the rubble of thousands of destroyed homes.
To do her part, Otoman banded together with her family and friends and booked tickets for as many survivors in Hatay as she could host back in Bursa.
More than a week after the quakes, Otoman’s family is now hosting 60 survivors in Bursa and is working to bring more.
“They’ve lost everything in a blink of an eye,” said Otoman. “We’re one, and we’re here for them.”
Each of this week’s European matches will begin with a minute of silence in remembrance of those lost in the earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria, according to UEFA.
The United Nations’ humanitarian organization on the ground estimates that the death toll from last Monday’s high-magnitude earthquakes that slammed southern Turkey and northern Syria will likely double from the current total of over 33,000.
In Syria, it is claimed that over five million people have been rendered homeless, while Turkey has reported that over a million people are using temporary shelters as a result of the tremors.
The Champions League, Europa League, and Europa Conference League knockout stage matches this week will all feature tributes to the deaths, according to information released by UEFA.
A minute’s silence will be observed before every fixture across UEFA’s club competitions this week, while a commemorative banner featuring the message, ‘We are together with you’, will be displayed in Turkish and Arabic.
A statement released by European football’s governing body on Monday also confirmed black armbands could be worn at the discretion of teams and referees.
Last week, UEFA confirmed it would donate €150,000 to the Turkish Football Federation and an additional €50,000 to the Bonyan Organization and Tiafi, both assisting in disaster relief.
Trabzonspor are the only Turkish club in action in UEFA’s competitions this week, hosting Basel in the first leg of their Europa Conference League knockout round play-off tie.
Istanbul Basaksehir and Sivasspor advanced to the last 16 of that competition as group winners, while Fenerbahce are into the same round in the Europa League.
Hatayspor and Gaziantep, two clubs based in the region effected by the earthquake, have withdrawn from the Turkish Super Lig.
Former Chelsea, Newcastle United and Everton winger Christian Atsu, who plays for Hatayspor, is still missing.
One week after the devastating earthquake hit Turkey, teams are still rushing to save victims that could be alive under the rubble — even as aid agencies and authorities warned the chances of finding survivors are becoming increasingly unlikely.
After 167 hours, a man was rescued from the debris in Antakya, in southern Turkey’s Hatay province, video from CNN affiliate CNN Turk shows. The man is seen being hoisted up by rescue workers, who he then embraces and grasps hands with.
Earlier Sunday, a 55-year-old woman was pulled from the rubble after 159 hours buried, while an 85-year-old woman was rescued after 152 hours trapped in what her nephew described as a cavity around 30-40 centimeters (11-16 inches) wide, according to CNN Turk.
Two people — a 25-year-old Syrian man and a child — were also rescued in Hatay some 151 and 152 hours after the quake hit, local officials said Sunday.
The man was rescued after response teams detected noises beneath the debris while conducting a sound survey in the ruins of an apartment building in Antakya, according to officials.
The technology was also used by the teams to find the child, whose age was not disclosed.
At least 41 people were rescued from under the rubble in Turkey between the 141st and 163rd hours after the quake hit, state-run news agency Anadolu reported Monday.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5PSfdDj98cs
Death toll: More than 36,000 people have been confirmed dead across Turkey and Syria, where relief efforts have been complicated by the long-running civil war. Rescue operations are over in rebel-held areas of northwest Syria, the White Helmets volunteer organization said Friday.
Officials in Turkey say 113 arrest warrants have been issued in connection with the construction of buildings that collapsed in Monday’s earthquake.
Turkish police have already taken at least 12 people into custody, including building contractors.
Meanwhile, unrest in southern Turkey has disrupted rescue efforts in some places.
The number of people confirmed to have died in Turkey and Syria has risen to more than 28,000.
More arrests are expected – but the action will by seen by many as an attempt to divert overall blame for the disaster.
For years, experts warned that many new buildings in Turkey were unsafe due to endemic corruption and government policies.
Those policies allowed so-called amnesties for contractors who swerved building regulations, in order to encourage a construction boom – including in earthquake-prone regions.
Thousands of buildings collapsed during the earthquake, raising questions about whether the natural disaster’s impact was made worse by human failings. With elections looming, the president’s future is on the line after spending 20 years in power.
Mr Erdogan has admitted shortcomings in the response, but, during one visit to a disaster zone, he appeared to blame fate. “Such things have always happened,” he said. “It’s part of destiny’s plan.”
On the sixth day after the quake hit, the situation is growing more desperate.
On Saturday, German rescuers and the Austrian army paused search operations because of clashes between unnamed groups in Hatay province. Security is expected to worsen as food supplies dwindle, one rescuer said.
“There is increasing aggression between factions in Turkey,” Austrian Lieutenant Colonel Pierre Kugelweis said. “The chances of saving a life bears no reasonable relation to the safety risk.”
The search for survivors resumed under the protection of the Turkish army.
Despite advances in both science and technology, it remains virtually impossible to know precisely when and where earthquakes will occur.
“Earthquake prediction has always been kind of a holy grail,” said Wendy Bohon, an earthquake geologist who works as a communications strategist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. “If we could tell people exactly when an earthquake was going to happen, we could take steps to mitigate against it. But Earth is a very complicated system.”
Part of the challenge is that the very nature of earthquakes makes them unpredictable events. When one does occur, it happens quickly.
“An earthquake is not like a slow-moving train that eventually picks up speed. It’s a sudden, accelerated event,” said Ben van der Pluijm, a professor of geology at the University of Michigan.
Earthquakes also tend to strike with little to no warning. Though scientists have investigated potential precursor events — everything from shifts in subsurface sounds to potential increases in a region’s seismic activity to changes in animal behavior — they have so far been unable to pinpoint any consistent signals that shaking is imminent.
The lack of any clear pattern makes it difficult to create reliable forecasts akin to weather reports.
Additionally, the processes that underpin earthquakes — the mashing and colliding of tectonic plates and the energy that builds up as a result — tend to play out over long periods of time. Scientists can, for instance, gauge that an earthquake will likely strike an area some time in the next 200 years, which may be specific on geologic timescales. On human time scales? Not so much.
“We have an incredibly good idea of where we expect earthquakes, and even the sizes that we can expect for large earthquakes in these areas, but that does not help us to narrow that down to a human timescale,” van der Pluijm said.
The U.S. Geological Survey is even more blunt on the topic. “Neither the USGS nor any other scientists have ever predicted a major earthquake. We do not know how, and we do not expect to know how any time in the foreseeable future,” the agency said on its website.
Still, there are ways to prepare. The USGS has developed an early-warning system called ShakeAlert that detects when a significant earthquake has occurred in California, Oregon and Washington and then issues radio, television and cellular alerts saying that strong shaking is imminent. In most cases, the alerts offer only a few seconds of warning, but that time can be extremely valuable, said van der Pluijm.
“Twenty seconds sounds very short, but it’s enough time for you to find a place under a desk to take cover,” he said. “It’s not a prediction, but ShakeAlert is a huge step forward because it can minimize the inevitable impact.”
One of the most important ways to prepare for an earthquake is to be aware of the risks, Bohon said. For policymakers, this means ensuring that critical infrastructure is protected in earthquake-prone areas.
“What we need to do is to make sure we understand what can happen and build to withstand that,” she said. “We have to make sure people know what to do. We have to make sure that our cities are able to be resilient in the face of those hazards so that we don’t just survive the earthquake, we can survive in the aftermath.”
The first relief convoy has reportedly entered the region from Turkey, arriving in opposition-held northwest Syria since the deadly earthquake on Monday.
Officials said six lorries had gone through Idlib’s Bab al-Hawa crossing.
Road damage and logistical difficulties caused a four-day pause in the delivery of life-saving aid to the area.
Rescuers report that hundreds of families are trapped beneath the debris of collapsed buildings and that at least 16,000 people have been murdered.
4.1 million people were already dependent on humanitarian aid before the earthquake, the majority of them were women and children.
There are still aftershocks here and there’s a constant risk of more buildings collapsing. But most homes are already gone.
A man comes up to me and tells me his brothers are buried in a building nearby and need help. This happens a lot here.
The air is thick from fire smoke, people are burning wood to keep warm. Everything is coated in the dust and dirt of the collapsed and collapsing buildings.
Helicopters flying overhead add to the post-apocalyptic feel. Those still trapped under buildings are enduring hell, but those that escaped aren’t faring much better.
A newborn baby has been reportedly rescued from the rubble of her home in northern Syria following a massive earthquake on Monday.
Her umbilical cord was still attached to her mother when she was found, a relative told AFP. Her mother is believed to have died after giving birth.
The baby who is receiving treatment at a clinic in Afrin, is the sole survivor of her immediate family, the rest of whom were all killed when a 7.8-magnitude quake that struck Syria and neighbouring Turkey flattened the family home in the rebel-held town of Jindayris, cousin Khalil al-Suwadi said.
Several small children have been rescued in Kahramanmaras, one of the cities most affected by the earthquake in Turkey.
On Tuesday morning, reports emerged that former Black Stars and Newcastle United star Christian Atsu had been found alive after being trapped in the rubble caused by a powerful earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on Monday.
As newsof his rescue spread, many in Ghana let out a collective sigh of relief, thankful that Atsu had been saved from almost certain peril. Since the earthquake, people all over the world have prayed for Atsu’s safety and offered support to thosedisplaced by the disaster.
With Atsu’s rescue, the global community can take comfort that some good has come from this tragic event.
Not long after, there was agitation on social media after authorities noted that they are unable to determine the health facility the player has been admitted to.
Ghana’s ambassador to Turkey, H.E. Francisca Ashietey-Odunton confirmed that information privy to her does confirm that the 31-year-old had been rescued but there were challenges with locating the said facility he was receiving medical attention.
But according to Hatayspor team doctor Gurbey Kahveci, the club can not confirm if Christian Atsu was rescued due to the recent challenge.
“When we heard the news that “he was taken to Dortyol Hospital”, we especially went and looked, but it was not there. At the moment, we accept that [the sporting director] Taner Savut and Christian Atsu were not found, unfortunate,” he said.
Currently, it is unclear the current health status of Christian Atsu.
When the dogs combed through the wreckage of the earthquake that devastated Mexico City and the surrounding areas in 2017, killing hundreds of people, the dogs won the hearts of the Mexican people.
The most well-known of them, Frida, a golden lab wearing safety goggles and booties who saved 12 people throughout her career, passed away three months ago due to old age.
However, some of the more seasoned dogs who worked with Frida in 2017 are now a part of the group, including Ecko.
Ecko is part of the team flying to Turkey
Mexico’s Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard tweeted photos of the canines lying on the tarmac just before take-off.
Mexico’s deadliest earthquake happened in 1985, when at least 5,000 people were killed in the capital and its surroundings.
Following devastating earthquakes that claimed more than 4,600 lives and toppled buildings across southeast Turkey and northern Syria, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey has declared seven days of national mourning, and Syria has asked the UN for assistance.
Authorities worry that the death toll from Monday’s magnitude 7.8 earthquake, which was followed by a magnitude 7.6 earthquake and several aftershocks, will rise as rescuers combed through piles of metal and concrete scattered across a region already troubled by Syria’s 12-year civil war and a refugee crisis in search of survivors.
Rescuers continued their search through the chilly night and into Tuesday morning in an effort to extricate more survivors from the debris.
Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), gave the number of dead in Turkey at 3,381 on Tuesday morning, while 15,834 others were injured.
In Syria, at least 1,300 people were killed, according to the Ministry of Health and the White Helmets rescue organisation on Monday evening.
Freezing winter weather conditions and snowfall in the devastated region have added to the plight of many thousands of people left injured and homeless by the earthquake. Downed buildings and destroyed roads have hampered efforts to find survivors and get crucial aid into affected areas.
Al Jazeera’s Sinem Koseoglu, reporting from Istanbul, said millions of people need help.
“And their need is even more acute because it is winter and they are facing cold temperatures, snow and rain.”
Ten cities in southern Turkey have been declared disaster areas, according to Al Jazeera’s Natasha Ghoneim, reporting from Istanbul. Freezing temperatures and snow have hampered rescue efforts, and more bad weather is expected to hit the region. Electricity supplies and natural gas have been cut off in many areas and the government is working to restore both services.
“A full picture of the devastation is only starting to emerge – devastation that will likely become more evident as the sun rises” on Tuesday, Ghoneim said.
Seismic activity continued to rattle the region on Monday, including another jolt nearly as powerful as the initial earthquake.
The US Geological Survey measured the initial earthquake at 7.8, with a depth of 18km (11 miles). Hours later, a 7.6 magnitude temblor also struck. The second jolt caused a multistorey apartment building in the Turkish city of Sanliurfa to topple onto the street in a cloud of dust as bystanders screamed, according to video of the scene.
Dramatic video footage aired on Turkish television showed buildings collapsing in real time. Visuals showed rescue workers pulling a child alive from a flattened building. The child was then reunited with distraught parents in snow-covered streets.
More than 7,800 people have been rescued across 10 provinces, according to Orhan Tatar, an official with Turkey’s disaster management authority. Strained medical facilities have quickly filled with injured people, rescue workers said.
The Syrian American Medical Society, which runs hospitals in northern Syria and southern Turkey, said in a statement that its facilities were “overwhelmed with patients filling the hallways” and called urgently for “trauma supplies and a comprehensive emergency response to save lives and treat the injured”.
Governments and aid agencies have rushed to deploy personnel, funds and equipment to Turkey and Syria.
Jordan is sending emergency aid to Syria and Turkey on the orders of King Abdullah II, while Egypt has pledged urgent humanitarian help to Turkey. Lebanon’s cash-strapped government is also sending Red Cross and Civil Defence first responders and firefighters to Turkey to help with its rescue efforts.
The European Union has mobilised search and rescue teams, and the bloc’s Copernicus satellite system has been activated to provide emergency mapping services. At least 13 member countries have offered assistance. The United Kingdom and United States said they are also ready to send help to Syria, but Washington has ruled out dealing directly with the Syrian government.
Germany’s foreign ministry said it is coordinating its aid response with EU partners and readying deliveries of emergency generators, tents, blankets and water treatment equipment.
The US is coordinating immediate assistance to NATO-member Turkey, including teams to support search and rescue efforts. In California, nearly 100 Los Angeles County firefighters and structural engineers, along with six specially trained dogs, were being sent to Turkey to help with rescue efforts.
Russian rescue teams from the Emergencies Ministry are preparing to fly to Syria, where the Russian military deployed in that country already has sent 10 units comprising 300 people to help clear debris and search for survivors. The Russian military has set up points to distribute humanitarian assistance. Russia also has offered help to Turkey, which has been accepted.
Information coming in is that former Black Stars player, Christian Atsu, has been rescued from the debris he was under as a result of an earthquake that hit Turkey today.
It was earlier reported that Christian Atsu and sporting director of Hatayspor, Tanarsh Sowth had been trapped.
It was only after close to 10 hours that Christian Astu has been found. Much has not been said about Sowth.
According to reports, Christian Atsu has been sent to a hospital for medical attention.
Also, Hatayspor is yet to comment on the recent development after engaging fans throughout the devastating period.
On Monday, a 7.8 magnitude hit both Turkey and Syria hard.
Per reports, over thousand of people have died with thousand other sustaining injuries.
Following an earthquake disaster that has left more than 1,800 people dead, dozens of nations and organisations have offered to help with rescue operations in southeast Turkey and northwest Syria.
The international assistance that has been mobilised and offered since the Monday morning earthquake are listed below. It will be revised appropriately.
Following an earthquake disaster that left more than 1,800 people dead, dozens of nations and organisations have offered to help with rescue operations in southeast Turkey and northwest Syria.
The international assistance that has been mobilised and offered since the Monday morning earthquake is listed below. It will be revised appropriately.
China
China is willing to provide humanitarian emergency aid to earthquake-struck Turkey and Syria, the State Council’s foreign aid agency said.
China expressed condolences and concern for the loss of life and property, and is in communications with both Turkey and Syria, a spokesperson from China International Development Cooperation Agency said.
European Union
Ten search-and-rescue teams from eight European Union countries have been mobilised to help first responders in Turkey, the European Commission said in a statement.
The units come from Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, France, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland and Romania. Italy and Hungary have also offered to send teams to Turkey, the Commission wrote.
A spokesperson for the German government said his country would contribute to the swift delivery of aid.
Greece
Kyriakos Mitsotakis,prime minister of Greece, offered condolences and support to Turkey, saying his country was mobilising its resources and will assist immediately.
India
The Indian government said two teams from its National Disaster Response Force comprising 100 personnel with specially trained canine squads and equipment were ready to be flown to the disaster area for search-and-rescue operations.
Medical teams were also being readied, and relief material was being sent in coordination with the Turkish authorities.
Iran
Foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani expressed “condolences and deep sympathy” to the quake-hit countries and expressed readiness to help the victims.
Hailing Iran’s “good relationship” with both countries, Kanaani said: “If there is a need for the presence of relief and health institutions of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the earthquake-affected areas, we will fulfil our moral responsibility.”
He described the offer of help as a “moral, human and Islamic responsibility”.
Italy
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Italy’s Civil Protection was standing by to contribute support and provide first aid.
Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said all authorities had been instructed to make immediate preparations to provide medical and search-and-rescue assistance.
Defence minister Yoav Gallant said Israel’s security forces are ready to provide any assistance needed, while foreign minister Eli Cohen added that a swift aid programme was being prepared.
NATO
Voicing full solidarity with Turkey, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said on Twitter: “I am in touch with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, and NATO Allies are mobilizing support now.”
Full solidarity with our Ally #Türkiye in the aftermath of this terrible earthquake. I am in touch with President @RTErdogan and Foreign Minister @MevlutCavusoglu, and #NATO Allies are mobilizing support now.
“NRC is assessing the situation in order to provide direct support to those most affected across Syria. A massive scale up is needed and our organisation will be part of it,” said Carsten Hansen, Middle East regional director for NRC.
Poland
Poland will send rescue group HUSAR, consisting of 76 firefighters and eight rescue dogs, Interior and Administration Minister Mariusz Kamiński said.
Qatar
The emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, expressed his condolences in a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
State news agency QNA said the emir expressed Qatar’s support for the “sisterly” country “in mitigating the serious humanitarian repercussions left by the earthquake”.
Spain
Spanish urban rescue teams are preparing to travel to Turkey, Spain’s interior ministry said, and officials from the defence ministry and other departments were coordinating to send the crews immediately to Turkey.
Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences and offered assistance.
“Please accept my deep condolences on the numerous human casualties and large-scale destruction … in your country,” Putin said.
“We are ready to provide the necessary assistance in this regard,” he added.
Ukraine
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine was ready to send support.
On Twitter, Zelenskyy wrote: “I express my sincere condolences to President Erdogan, the Turkish people and the families of the victims of the earthquake in the southeast of Turkey.
“I wish a speedy recovery to all the victims. We will stand by the Turkish people in this difficult time. Ready to provide the necessary assistance to overcome the consequences of the disaster.
United Kingdom
The UK says it will send search and rescue specialists and an emergency medical team to Turkey.
Britain will send 76 search and rescue specialists, four search dogs and rescue equipment that will arrive in Turkey on Monday evening, the British foreign ministry said.
“We stand ready to provide further support as needed,” James Cleverly, the UK’s foreign secretary, said in a statement.
United States
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the US is “profoundly concerned” about the incident.
“I have been in touch with Turkish officials to relay that we stand ready to provide any & all needed assistance. We will continue to closely monitor the situation in coordination with Turkiye,” Sullivan said on Twitter, using Turkey’s official name.
The U.S. is profoundly concerned by today’s destructive earthquake in Turkiye & Syria. I have been in touch with Turkish officials to relay that we stand ready to provide any & all needed assistance. We will continue to closely monitor the situation in coordination with Turkiye.
The United Nations’World Health Organization chief, Tedros Ghebreyesus, said emergency medical teams had been activated to provide essential health care for the injured and most vulnerable.
More than 1,000 people have been killed, tens of thousands injured, and significant damage has been caused by an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 that had its epicentre in southeast Turkey close to the northern Syrian border.
The earthquake toppled buildings and sent rescuers scurrying through the rubble in search of survivors, killing more than 1,300 people—at least 912 in Turkey, 320 in government-held parts of Syria, and at least 147 in opposition-held parts of Syria.
The death toll was expected to rise, with experts warning that aftershocks could continue for days or weeks. Tremors were also felt in Cyprus, Egypt, and Lebanon.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Twitter that “search and rescue teams were immediately dispatched” to the areas hit by the quake.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Civil Defence, which operates in the opposition-held portions of northern Syria, declared a state of emergency and appealed for “the international community to support the rescue of civilians in Syria”.
Where did the earthquake hit?
The earthquake occurred at 4:17am (01:17 GMT), with its epicentre in Kahramanmaras in Gaziantep province, about 33km (20 miles) from the capital city of Gaziantep, which is home to more than two million people, including hundreds of thousands of Syrians who fled during the country’s war, which began in 2011.
The US Geological Survey agency noted that the area contains many buildings constructed of brick masonry or brittle concrete, making them “extremely vulnerable to earthquake shaking”.
A person is rescued from the wreckage of a building in Adana, Turkey [Eren Bozkurt/Anadolu Agency]
The quake was about 50km (31 miles) from the border of northwest Syria, where about 1.7 million internally displaced Syrians live in a cluster of camps in areas controlled by opposition groups still fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
More than 40 aftershocks were felt in the wake of the initial quake, including one with a magnitude of 6.7.
Those aftershocks stretched “a distance of about 100km to 200km (62 to 124 miles) all along a big fault line,” Chris Elders, professor at the School of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Curtin University in Perth, Australia, told Al Jazeera, referring to the East Anatolian Fault, which stretches across the southeastern portion of Turkey.
What do we know about the casualties?
The death toll was rising rapidly on Monday, with Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management agency saying at least 284 people were killed in seven Turkish provinces by 10:35am (07:35 GMT).
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday afternoon the death toll had soared to at least 912 people, with nearly 6,000 injured.
Rescuers were digging through the rubble of levelled buildings in the city of Kahramanmaras and neighbouring Gaziantep. Crumbled buildings were also reported in Adiyaman, Malatya and Diyarbakir.
The death toll in government-held areas of Syria climbed to 320, according to Syrian state media, with deaths reported in the cities of Aleppo, Hama, Latakia and Tartous.
At least 147 people were killed and more than 230 injured in rebel-held parts of northwestern Syria on Monday, rescue workers said.
“Large damage and local devastation has to be expected. Rescue forces are in the area right now and we will see the number rising over the next days,” Martin Mai, a professor of geophysics at King Abdullah University in Saudi Arabia, told Al Jazeera.
“In the past, these earthquakes in Turkey have led to about 10,000 to 13,000 fatalities owing to building style construction and the sheer size of this event will have profound economic impact as well.”
The famous Yeni Mosque, which dates back to the 13th century, partially collapsed in the province of Maltaya, where a 14-story building with 28 apartments also collapsed.
Is the rescue effort going to work?
Rescue efforts are being hampered by a winter blizzard that covered major roads in ice and snow.
Aid workers warned of a particularly dire situation in northwest Syria.
Rescue workers are seen in Afrin, Syria [Ugur Yildirim/Getty Images]
“We got initial information from our hospitals … The hospitals are overwhelmed from the number of casualties,” he said, adding that several hospitals had to be evacuated.
There were “five to seven deaths in a fetal hospital in Afrin,” Kiwara added, “including one pregnant mother who passed away but our colleagues succeeded to get out her baby out alive. And he’s in a good condition right now.”
Why was the earthquake so deadly?
Curtin University’s Elders said the depth of the earthquake, at about 18km (11 miles) deep, made the incident particularly devastating.
While that “sounds quite deep”, he said, however, “the energy that’s released by the earthquake will be felt quite close to the surface with much greater intensity than if it was deeper in the crust”.
Naci Gorur, an earthquake expert with Turkey’s Academy of Sciences, urged local officials to immediately check the region’s dams for cracks to avert potentially catastrophic flooding.
Turkey predominantly sits on the Anatolian Plate, with two major faults, the North Anatolian Fault, which runs between the Anatolian Plate and the Eurasian Plate to the north of Turkey’s land mass, and the East Anatolian Fault, which runs along the Arabian Plate to the southeast of Turkey’s territory.
The geological location makes Turkey one of the world’s most active earthquake zones.
In 1999, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake hit the Duzce region in northeastern Turkey, killing more than 17,000 people, including more than 1,000 in Istanbul, the country’s largest city.
Monday’s quake was the highest magnitude since another magnitude 7.8 earthquake in Erzincan province in 1939, killing more than 30,000.
Russia, a close ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, keeps a sizable military presence there and participates in ongoing combat operations against opposition forces.
Putin also gets along well with Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan, who is a NATO member but has attempted to mediate the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
“Please accept my deep condolences on the numerous human casualties and large-scale destruction caused by a powerful earthquake in your country,” Putin said in his message to Erdogan on Monday.
Separately, Putin told Assad that Russia shared “the sadness and pain of those who lost their loved ones” and saidRussia was ready to provide help.
A man reacts as people search for survivors through the rubble in Diyarbakir, Turkey [Ilyas Akengin/AFP]
More than 300 people have been killed and numerous others are trapped after a strong earthquake struck a large area in southeast Turkey, close to the Syrian border.
According to the US Geological Survey, the 7.8 magnitude earthquake occurred near the city of Gaziantep at 04:17 local time (01:17 GMT) and a depth of 17.9 kilometres (11 miles).
More than 76 deaths have been reported in Turkey so far, and 10 cities have been affected, including Diyarbakir.
The Syrian health ministry said people had died in the provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama and Tartus.
There are fears the death toll will rise sharply in the coming hours.
Many buildings have collapsed and rescue teams have been deployed to search for survivors under huge piles of rubble.
Turkish Interior Minister Suleymon Soylu said 10 cities were affected: Gaziantep, Kahramanmaras, Hatay, Osmaniye, Adiyaman, Malatya, Sanliurfa, Adana, Diyarbakir and Kilis.
In Malatya province, north-east of Gaziantep, at least 23 people were killed, local officials said. In Sanliurfa, to the east, there were 17 deaths. And more deaths were reported in Diyarbakir and Osmaniye.
About 440 people were injured in Turkey and 639 in Syria.
A BBC Turkish correspondent in Diyarbakir, reported that a shopping mall in the city collapsed.
The tremor was also felt in Lebanon and Cyprus.
“I was writing something and just all of a sudden the entire building started shaking and yes I didn’t really know what to feel,” Mohamad El Chamaa, a student in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, told the BBC.
“I was right next to the window so I was just scared that they might shatter. It went on for four-five minutes and it was pretty horrific. It was mind-blowing,” he said.
Rushdi Abualouf, a BBC producer in the Gaza Strip, said there was about 45 seconds of shaking in the house he was staying in.
Turkish seismologists estimated the strength of the quake to be 7.4 magnitude. They said that a second tremor hit the region just minutes later.
Turkey lies in one of the world’s most active earthquake zones.
Image caption, In Diyarbakir north-east of Gaziantep a search is now under way for people trapped in damaged buildingsImage caption,In Malatya, also north-east of Gaziantep, cars were smashed by collapsed buildingsImage caption,In northern Syria, the quake flattened a number of buildings in the city of Hama
Ghana was hit by an earth tremor on Monday, December 12. This affected parts of its capital, Accra.
Some places affected include Adabraka, Gbawe, McCarthy hill and Mallam.
Many panicked and left their office spaces as a result. Many, since the incident have asked which institutions is supposed to inform Ghanaians on earthquakes and earth tremors.
It is the work of the Ghana Geological Survey Authority.
The Ghana Geological Survey Authority was established as an Authority of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources in accordance with Ghana Geological Service Act, 2016 (Act 928). to advise, promote and research on geoscientific issues concerning mineral resources, groundwater, environment, geo-hazards and land use planning to support sustainable economic development in Ghana.
Functions of the Authority
Advise the Government on matters related to geology, geo-hazards and the search for and exploitation and development of mineral resources in the country;
Conduct geological, geochemical, geophysical, seismological, hydrological, geochemical, and geo-environmental survey, mineral exploration, systematic mapping of rocks and other geological or geoscience materials including soil and clays of the country including its offshore areas;
Develop and maintain a National Seismic Network to monitor earthquakes, tsunamis and blasts that have the potential to impact negatively on persons and property in the country and for optimum land-use planning;
Serve as a national repository for geoscientific data and information generated by public and private entities including mining and mineral exploration companies which operate in the country;
Conduct site or foundation investigations and issue certified reports prior to major construction works or projects that have the potential to impact on the subsurface structure, socio-economic, cultural and aesthetic environment;
Conduct ground surveys or airborne surveys, take samples and make boring necessary for the conduct of investigations and preparation of relevant reports to assist with national development;
Liaise with relevant public agencies involved in land-use planning for sustainable use of the special environment in Ghana;
Perform the functions and undertake investigations that the Minister may assign to the Authority;
Perform any other functions conferred on it by this Act or that are ancillary to the achievement of the objectives of the Authority.
It is not the role of the Ghana Meteorological Agency, as has been pointed out.
Nobody asked but @GhanaMet DOES NOT provide forecast on earthquakes or earth tremors.
At least 162 people were killedand 700 others injured after a 5.6 magnitude earthquake struck the Indonesian island of Java on Monday, the Associated Press reports.
West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil told the outlet that “the majority of those who died were children,” adding that more than 13,000 people have been displaced by the earthquake. Additionally, at least 25 people were still trapped under collapsed buildings.
“There are still many residents trapped at the incident sites, we assume that the injured and dead victims will continue to increase over time,” Kamil said.
According to a statement from the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), the earthquake impacted West Java at 1:21 p.m. local time, hitting the Cianjur region, which is located about 47 miles southeast of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, the hardest.
The Cianjur district counts 2,272 houses, four government buildings, several schools, and a hospital among the area’s damaged infrastructure.
A government official in the Cianjur regency told the Washington Post, “The majority who died were hit by buildings. Some were hit on the head. All you can hear here is ambulance sirens everywhere.”
The news arrives months after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake killed at least 25 people and injured hundreds of others in West Sumatra province.
In January 2021, another 6.2-magnitude earthquake killed more than 100 people and injured nearly 6,500 in West Sulawesi province.
An earthquakeon the main Indonesian island of Java has killed scores of people and injured hundreds, say officials.
The 5.6 magnitude quake struck Cianjur town in West Java, at a shallow depth of 10km (6 miles), according to US Geological Survey data.
Scores of people were taken to hospital, with many treated outside.
Rescuers have worked through the night to try to save others thought to still be trapped under collapsed buildings.
The area where the quake struck is densely populated and prone to landslides, with poorly built houses reduced to rubble in many areas.
The exact number of people killed so far remains unclear. Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has said their official death toll was 103, adding that another figure given by regional governor Ridwan Kamil – 162 – remains unverified.
BNPB said another 390 people were wounded and that 7,000 people had taken shelter in various locations in the area.
Mr Kamil has claimed that a total of 13,000 had been displaced by the disaster, and that more remained “trapped in isolated places”. He said officials were “under the assumption that the number of injured and deaths will rise with time”.
Image source, ReutersImage caption, A collapsed school building in Cianjur
Image source, ReutersImage caption, A damaged classroom in Cianjur
Herman Suherman, the head of administration in Cianjur town, said most injuries were bone fractures sustained from people being trapped by debris in buildings.
“The ambulances keep on coming from the villages to the hospital,” he was quoted by AFP news agency as saying earlier in the day. “There are many families in villages that have not been evacuated.”
Many of the injured were treated outside in a hospital car park after the hospital was left without power for several hours following the quake, West Java’s governor said.
On Monday night, Mr Kamil wrote on Twitter that it could take up to three days for power to be fully restored to the area. He added that mobile phone reception remained poor and was causing “a lot of problems” for officials.
The tremor could also be felt in the capital Jakarta about 100km away, where people were evacuated from high-rise buildings.
Office workers rushed out of buildings in the civic and business district during the tremor, which started at 13:21 Western Indonesian time (WIT) on Monday, the agency said.
“I was working when the floor under me was shaking. I could feel the tremor clearly. I tried to do nothing to process what it was, but it became even stronger and lasted for some time,” lawyer Mayadita Waluyo told AFP.
An office worker named Ahmad Ridwan told news agency Reuters: “We are used to this [earthquakes] in Jakarta, but people were so nervous just now, so we also panicked.”
Earthquakes are common in Indonesia, which sits on the “ring of fire” area of tectonic activity in the Pacific. The country has a history of devastating earthquakes and tsunamis, with more than 2,000 killed in a 2018 Sulawesi quake.
Local officials have reported that , an earthquake struck the main Indonesian island of Java, killing more than 40 people and injuring hundreds more.
According to US Geological Survey data, the 5.6 magnitude quake struck Cianjur town in West Java at a shallow depth of 10km (6 miles).
The tremor was felt about 100 kilometres away in Jakarta, where people in high-rise buildings were evacuated.
Officials are warning of potential aftershocks and say the death toll may rise.
The area where the quake struck is densely populated and prone to landslides, with poorly-built houses. Rescuers have been trying to evacuate people from collapsed buildings, and managed to save a woman and her baby, according to local reports.
“Victims kept coming from many areas. Around 700 people were injured,” he told Kompas TV.
Gempa bumi dengan magnitude (M)5,6 dirasakan warga Jakarta dan sekitarnya. Pusat gempa berada di darat 10 km barat daya Kabupaten Cianjur, Provinsi Jawa Barat. Fenomena ini terjadi pada Senin (21/11), pukul 13.21 WIB. Dua warga meninggal dunia. pic.twitter.com/ziXZ590unX
Earlier, AFP news agency quoted him as saying most injuries were bone fractures sustained from people being trapped by debris in buildings.
“The ambulances keep on coming from the villages to the hospital,” he said.
“There are many families in villages that have not been evacuated.”
Videos on social media showed the destruction to houses and shops.
Dozens of buildings had been damaged in Cianjur region, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency said in a statement. They include a hospital and an Islamic boarding school.
In Jakarta, office workers rushed out of buildings in the civic and business district during the tremor, which lasted for about a minute.
“I was working when the floor under me was shaking. I could feel the tremor clearly. I tried to do nothing to process what it was, but it became even stronger and lasted for some time,” lawyer Mayadita Waluyo told the AFP news agency.
An office worker named Ahmad Ridwan told Reuters: “We are used to this [earthquakes] in Jakarta, but people were so nervous just now, so we also panicked.”
Earthquakes are common in Indonesia which sits on the “ring of fire” area of tectonic activity in the Pacific. The country has a history of devastating earthquakes and tsunamis, with more than 2,000 killed in a 2018 Sulawesi quake.
Houses on the Adriatic coast shook for several seconds, and there were reports of minor damage but no casualties.
Schools were closed in parts of the central Marche region, and trains were halted near Ancona due to suspected track damage.
According to Italian officials, the quake was 8 kilometers (5 miles) deep.
It was felt in Rome in the west and Bologna in the north-east as well as across the Adriatic in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The first and strongest tremor at 07:07 (06:07 GMT) was followed by a number of smaller shocks.
IMAGE SOURCE,EPA Image caption, There was minor damage to the station at Ancona
Fallen masonry was seen in the centre of Ancona and at the station, and residents rushed into the streets in panic. Italian reports said trains were suspended on several lines including between Ancona and the capital, Rome.
A resident in Fano, a coastal town between Rimini and Ancona, told Ansa news agency that the streetlights began swaying like twigs: “Everything was shaking violently, a dreadful feeling, and people poured into the street.”
Local Fano TV presenter Massimo Foghetti was doing a press review when the studio began to shake.
#Terremoto in diretta durante la rassegna stampa dell’emittente Fano Tv 19. Massimo Foghetti cerca di capire, poi arriva un’altra scossa e fugge. La trasmissione viene interrotta pic.twitter.com/ZkyACR6T5E
Central Italy is one of Europe’s most active earthquake regions. A 6.2-magnitude earthquake in 2016 killed 299 people, most of them in the picturesque mountain village of Amatrice.
Tremors were felt as far away as Manila, more than 330 kilometres (205 miles) to the south of the epicentre.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake rocked the northern Philippines, forcing the closure of an international airport, sending panicked residents into the streets, and causing significant damage to a hospital.
The earthquake, which struck at about 10:59 pm on Tuesday (14:59 GMT) near the upland town of Dolores, was felt as far away as the capital Manila, more than 330km (205 miles) to the south.
Police and civil aviation officials said that at least 26 people were injured in Ilocos Norte, the home province of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, where the international airport in the capital city of Laoag was ordered to close temporarily on Wednesday due to damage from the earthquake.
(Al Jazeera)
The president – also known as Bongbong – warned of aftershocks on Wednesday and advised people, in a tweet, to stay out of tall structures.
As aftershocks continue, we remain in coordination with DPWH for the inspection of roads and buildings, DSWD for relief, DOE for outages and DILG for monitoring.
Everyone is advised to keep out of tall structures.
Patients were evacuated from the 200-bed Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital in Batac city,about 60km (37 miles) north of the epicentre, which sustained some of the worst reported damage so far.
At least two towns in Cagayan province temporarily lost electricity due to damaged power lines. A number of bridges and roads in outlying provinces were damaged.
In the town of La Paz in Abra, a century-old Christian church was damaged, with parts of its belfry collapsing and some walls cracked, littering the church’s grassy yard with debris, officials said.
Notable quake, preliminary info: M 6.5 – 11 km ENE of Dolores, Philippines https://t.co/q9auPOPbUW
Dolores town police officer Jeffrey Blanes said that “buildings were shaking so people ran outside”.
A member of the public in Aparri municipality, located more than 100km (62 miles) from the epicentre, posted on the website of the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) that it was the most extensive tremor they had experienced.
“The longest earthquake I’ve ever felt. Thank God we’re safe. Stay safe everyone,” the post read.
Photos of collapsed ceilings in some of the hospital rooms, as well as dozens of patients waiting in chairs on the driveway outside, were posted on the local fire service’s official Facebook page.
“The authorities made us leave the building while they checked the building integrity… We are currently conducting an assessment of the damage,” hospital worker Tom Tabije told the AFP news agency by phone.
The civil defence office in Abra province,where Dolores is located, said there were no immediate reports of casualties, but the extent of the damage would not be known until morning.
“We are unable to make a thorough assessment of the impact now because it is nighttime and we are also thinking about our people’s safety,” Abra rescuer Joel de Leon told AFP by phone.
Eleven people were killed, and several hundred were injured in July when a magnitude 7.0 quake hit the mountainous Abra province triggering landslides and ground fissures. In October 2013, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck the central island of Bohol, killing more than 200 people.
Earthquakes are a daily occurrence in the Philippines, which sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an arc of intense seismic and volcanic activity stretching from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.
After a 17-day search following an earthquake in southwest China, a man was found alive in the mountains.
On September5, a 6.6-magnitude earthquake that struck Sichuan province killed 93 people and injured over 400 others.
Gan Yu stayed behind to help others at the hydropower plant where he was on duty, but then struggled to escape through the rough terrain as he had lost his glasses, local media reported.
He was found alive but injured by a local villager on Wednesday.
Mr Gan and his colleague Luo Yong stayed behind at the Wandong hydropower plant on 5 September to give first aid to injured colleagues and to help prevent flooding by releasing water from a dam.
They then attempted to leave, walking for about 20km (12 miles) in the mountains aroundthe plant.
But Mr Gan, who is severely short-sighted and had lost his glasses in the quake, struggled to navigate the terrain, state-owned China National Radio (CNR) reported.
Rescuers were searching the area for survivors, and the two men tried unsuccessfully to signal for help.
“We took our clothes off, strung them on tree branches, and waved them around,” Mr Luo told CNR.
Eventually, Mr Luo went to look for help, leaving Mr Gan with a makeshift bed of moss and bamboo leaves and some wild fruit and bamboo shoots to eat.
Mr Luo was found on 8 September after using fire to attract the rescuers’ attention. But by the time his former companion’s shelter was found three days later, Mr Gan was no longer there.
Rescuers discovered only discarded clothing and believed he may have died of hypothermia.
This week a farmer who lives near the plant joined the search, using his local knowledge. After a few hours, he heard Mr Gan’s cries and found him under trees.
Rescuers later reached the scene and flew Mr Gan to a hospital, where he was treated for broken bones.
The death toll from a powerful earthquake that struck southern Mexico has risen to ten, the federal government said Wednesday.
The 7.4-magnitude quake, which was followed by more than 1,500 aftershocks, was felt in Mexico City, some 700 kilometers (430 miles) away from the epicenter in Oaxaca.
It sent people fleeing their homes and workplaces and forced the closure of an oil refinery.
Oaxaca Governor Alejandro Murat said in an interview with Milenio TV earlier in the day that 2,000 homes had been damaged.
First responders were still working to remove debris from a highway, he added.
Earlier, the national civil protection coordinator, David Leon, said 23 people had been injured in the quake.
The death toll from a powerful earthquake that struck southern Mexico has risen to ten, the federal government said Wednesday.
The 7.4-magnitude quake, which was followed by more than 1,500 aftershocks, was felt in Mexico City, some 700 kilometers (430 miles) away from the epicenter in Oaxaca.
It sent people fleeing their homes and workplaces, and forced the closure of an oil refinery.
Oaxaca Governor Alejandro Murat said in an interview with Milenio TV earlier in the day that 2,000 homes had been damaged.
First responders were still working to remove debris from a highway, he added.
Earlier, the national civil protection coordinator, David Leon, said 23 people had been injured in the quake.
Mexican Oil said its refinery in Salina Cruz in Oaxaca had been shut down as a precaution after a fire broke out at the plant “that was immediately stifled.â€
One of the dead from the earthquake was a worker at the refinery, who was killed after falling off a high structure.
Parts of the Greater Accra and Central Region experienced earth tremors in about an hour ago.
The tremor with a magnitude of 4.0mb, a depth of 10 km and at a distance of 19 km just hit 7km North-West of Gbawe, 19km North-West of Accra, Ghana, occurring three times in less than 30 minutes.
These are the areas in Accra and arts of Central Oregon that experienced the tremor.
Osu, Ablekuma Manhean, Lapaz, Kaneshie, Achimota, Adenta, Circle, Kokomlemle, Accra New Town, Legon, Dansoman, Kasoa, Haatso, Kwashiman, Teshie, Nungua, McCarthy Hill, Weija, Bortianor, Tetegu, Old Kasoa Barrier, Gbawe, Aplaku, Sowutuom, Awoshie, Abelemkpe, Tabora, Achimota, Ablekuma, Kissieman, Westland, Laterbiokorshie, Tesano, Santa Maria, Madina, Kwabenya and even as far as Nsawam, Koforidua, Swedru among others.
The earth tremor started at exactly 10:48 pm. It happened again in a few seconds and it happened the third time.
An earthquake has rocked Croatia’s capital Zagreb, damaging buildings and leaving cars crushed by falling chunks of masonry.
A teenager is in a critical condition after a roof collapsed, local media say. The spire of the city’s cathedral also snapped off.
After Sunday’s tremor, Zagreb’s mayor urged people to return to their homes given fears about the coronavirus.
The 5.3-magnitude quake is the largest to affect the city in 140 years.
Aside from the teenager, another sixteen people were injured.
Panicked residents ran out into the streets when it struck around 06:00 local time and were initially told to stay out by authorities.
“Keep your distance. Don’t gather together. We are facing two serious crises, the earthquake and the epidemic,” Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said.
However Mayor Milan Bandic later said they should return home. “Eighty per cent of Zagreb residents live in structures that have reinforced concrete structures,” he said.
Several buildings were damaged, including the parliament. It will be out of action until further notice. Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic described the damage as “quite extensive”.
The BBC’s Guy Delauney in the region says the earthquake acted as a cue for some residents to head for their holiday homes on the coast.
But by early afternoon police had closed motorway toll booths and set up control points to prevent people entering coastal districts because of fears of spreading coronavirus, our correspondent reports.
Croatia has more than 200 Covid-19 infections.
People in southern Austria and Slovenia also felt the tremor.
An earthquake in northwestern Iran on Friday killed three people and injured 20, according to the first official reports on state television.
The shallow 5.9-magnitude quake struck about 120 kilometres (75 miles) southeast of the city of Tabriz, in East Azerbaijan Province, in the early hours of the morning, the Iranian Seismological Center said.
The quake, described as “moderate”, was eight kilometres (five miles) deep and was followed by four aftershocks.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) issued an alert warning that “significant casualties are likely and the disaster is potentially widespread”.
Iran sits where two major tectonic plates meet and experiences frequent seismic activity.
The country has suffered a number of major disasters in recent decades, including at the ancient city of Bam, which was decimated by a catastrophic earthquake in 2003 that killed at least 31,000 people.
In 1990, a 7.4-magnitude quake in northern Iran killed 40,000 people, injured 300,000 and left half a million homeless, reducing dozens of towns and nearly 2,000 villages to rubble.
Iran has experienced at least two other significant quakes in recent years — one in 2005 that killed more than 600 people and another in 2012 that left some 300 dead.
![Rumeysa Otoman's father, Ahmet Arkin (L) with his brother Sebhattin Arkin (R) who survived the earthquake in Hatay and came to stay with them in Bursa [Credit Rumeysa Otoman/Al Jazeera]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/cd53bca1-25bc-4526-b549-040d8c1f4d90-2.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C460&quality=80)
