Turkey – Syria Earthquake: Deaths Top 16,000
Freezing temperatures increased the misery of survivors of a major earthquake that killed more than 16,000 people in Turkey and Syria on Thursday, as rescuers scrambled to save countless victims still buried under debris.
The death toll from Monday’s 7.8-magnitude earthquake is projected to grow substantially as rescue attempts approach the 72-hour mark, which disaster experts believe to be the most probable time to save lives.
On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan acknowledged “shortcomings” in his government’s response to the earthquake, one of the worst this century.
Survivors have been forced to scramble for food and shelter, and in some cases, to watch helplessly as families begged for aid and eventually became silent under the debris.
As the death toll continued to grow, rescuers continued to pull survivors from the debris.
As online criticism rose, Erdogan visited one of the worst-affected areas, the quake’s epicentre in Kahramanmaras, and admitted shortcomings in the response. “There are, of course, shortcomings.” The circumstances are obvious. “It is impossible to be prepared for a disaster like this,” he stated.
The Turkey-Syria border is one of the most active earthquake zones in the world.
The quake on Monday was the strongest in Turkey since 1939, when 33,000 people died in the eastern Erzincan province. In 1999, a 7.4-magnitude earthquake killed almost 17,000 people.
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