Death toll closes in on 2,000 according to Turkish and Syrian officials
The official death toll from today's earthquakes in Turkey is approaching 2,000, with many more feared dead.
Turkish officials upped the number of casualties in the nation to 1,121 this afternoon, while a total of 883 people have been confirmed dead in Syrian government- and opposition-held territory.
Thousands more have sustained serious injuries and search and rescue teams are working feverishly to free scores of people trapped under the rubble.
People search for survivors under the rubble in Aleppo, Syria February 6, 2023
Rescuers search for survivors under the rubble in Jandaris, Syria February 6, 2023
A victim is pulled from rubble in Diyarbakir, Turkey, on February 6, 2023
President Biden expresses 'deep sadness' over Turkish earthquakes, pledges aid
US President Joe Biden said he was 'deeply saddened' and promised his country's assistance Monday after earthquakes killed nearly 1,800 people in Turkey and Syria.
'I am deeply saddened by the loss of life and devastation caused by the earthquake in Turkiye and Syria. I have directed my team to continue to closely monitor the situation in coordination with Turkiye and provide any and all needed assistance,' the president tweeted from his official account.
I am deeply saddened by the loss of life and devastation caused by the earthquake in Turkiye and Syria. I have directed my team to continue to closely monitor the situation in coordination with Turkiye and provide any and all needed assistance.
— President Biden (@POTUS) February 6, 2023Turkey's lira plummets amid fallout of earthquakes, adding to economic woes
Turkey's lira hit a record low and its stock markets tumbled in the wake of a pair of brutal earthquakes that have killed thousands and reduced large sections of several cities to rubble.
The nation's stock exchange, Borsa Istanbul, announced a temporary halt to transactions in shares of several companies in the earthquake zone in the early morning and added more names to the list as the day progressed.
Turkey has been beset for years by soaring inflation and currency crashes, with the earthquakes only adding to the nation's economic turmoil.
Before and after images show the catastrophic effects of the earthquakes that have levelled parts of Turkey and Syria.
More than 1,700 people have been reported dead from the earthquakes so far, which brought down ancient fortresses and modern reinforced buildings alike.
Roughly 3,000 buildings are thought to have been wiped out so far.
New casualty figures put death toll at almost 1,800
The death toll from a pair of devastating earthquakes in southern Turkey is closing in on 1,800.
1,014 people have been confirmed dead so far in Turkey.
At least 783 people were killed across Syria, the government and rescuers said. The Syrian health ministry said the death toll rose to '1,284 injured and 403 dead in the provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama, Tartus' - all government-controlled areas.
The White Helmets rescue group that operates in rebel-held areas of the war-torn country said 'the death toll from the earthquake in northwestern Syria has risen to more than 380 and more than 1,000 injured'.
The toll is expected to increase dramatically.
UK's Foreign Office deploys search and rescue teams to Turkey
The UK will immediately deploy emergency response teams to Türkiye to assist rescue efforts, the FCDO has said.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said: 'The UK is sending immediate support to Türkiye including a team of 76 search & rescue specialists, equipment and rescue dogs.
'In Syria, the UK-funded White Helmets have mobilised their resources to respond. We stand ready to provide further support as needed."
A flight is expected to depart the UK at 4pm and arrive around 9pm local time in Gaziantep, close to the epicentre of the disaster.
The UK International Search and Rescue team has specialist search equipment including seismic listening devices, concrete cutting and breaking equipment, propping and shoring tools.
Remains of a highrise building in Adana, Turkey on February 06, 2023
James Cleverly said: 'The UK is sending immediate support to Türkiye'
Pope joins list of international leaders sending condolences to Turkey and Syria
Pope Francis is the latest international leader to express condolences and sympathies for the thousands killed and the tens of thousands more displaced by earthquakes in Turkey.
The Vatican's Chief of State said he was 'deeply saddened' by the huge loss of life and devastation wrought by the tremors, both of which registered over 7 on the Richter scale.
'His Holiness Pope Francis was deeply saddened to learn of the huge loss of life caused by the earthquake... he sends the assurance of his spiritual closeness to all those affected,' wrote the Vatican's secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin in a statement.
Earlier Chinese President Xi Jinping told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in separate messages he was 'shocked' to learn of the disaster and conveyed 'deep condolences for the dead and sincere sympathy for their families as well as for the injured'.
Pope Francis has said he is deeply saddened by the tragedy in Turkey
China's president Xi Jinping also offered condolences
Turkey announces government shutdown amid earthquake chaos
Turkey's parliament has been suspended for at least a week as the government scrambles to respond to two deadly earthquakes.
Deputy chairman of the country's ruling AK party Mustafa Elitas said the National Assembly will not convene today and will remain suspended for at least seven days as Erdogan's government coordinates widespread search and rescue operations with international aid organisations.
Widespread destruction is seen close to Turkish perimeter in Syria
Israel says it will respond to Syrian request for aid in rare moment of cooperation
Israel said on Monday that it had received a Syrian request for assistance with earthquake relief for the Arab state and that it was prepared to oblige, in what would be rare cooperation between the enemy neighbours.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech he had ordered Israeli aid sent to Turkey, the epicentre of Monday's earthquake, and that 'since a request was also received to do this for many victims of the earthquake in Syria, I instructed to do this as well'.
Syrian officials have reported hundreds killed in the civil war-torn country, both in areas under Damascus' control and in the opposition-held northwest.
Israeli-Syrian relations have been hostile since the state of Israel was established in 1948 and there have been several armed conflicts between the two nations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
EU mobilises search and rescue teams from 10 member states
The European Union has mobilised 10 search and rescue teams to deploy to Turkey and Syria to assist in rescue operations.
'Urban Search and Rescue teams have been quickly mobilised from Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, France, Greece, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland and Romania to support the first responders on the ground,' the European Commission has declared.
Death toll from Turkey earthquakes exceeds 1,600
Turkish authorities have revised the number of people confirmed dead to 1,014.
Syrian state television said 371 of its people died - though that toll is thought to include only those living in government-held areas.
Syria's White Helmets rescue organisation said 221 people were killed in Syrian opposition-held regions.
The figures suggest the death toll now sits at 1,606, but with thousands injured and thousands more trapped under the rubble, the number of casualties is set to increase dramatically.
Tremors from Turkey earthquakes were felt as far as GREENLAND
Tremors from the powerful earthquake that rocked Turkey and neighbouring Syria on Monday were felt as far away as Greenland, the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland said.
'The large earthquakes in Turkey were clearly registered on the seismographs in Denmark and Greenland,' seismologist Tine Larsen told AFP. 'The waves from the earthquake reached the seismograph on the Danish island of Bornholm approximately five minutes after the shaking started.'
'Eight minutes after the earthquake, the shaking reached the east coast of Greenland, propagating further through all of Greenland,' she added.
Aerial view of collapsed 14-storey-building after 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Turkey
Oil refineries and exports disrupted by earthquake in Turkey
A series of oil refineries have suspended their operations and stopped exports via Turkey as a safety precaution after two earthquakes wiped out swathes of several cities.
Operations at the Ceyhan oil terminal in southern Turkey were suspended indefinitely and Syria's Baniyas oil refinery shut off production for 48 hours amid the carnage.
Turkish state pipeline operator BOTAS said natural gas flows were halted to Gaziantep, Hatay and Kahramanmaras provinces and some other districts as a result of damage to a gas transmission line.
And Iraqi Kurdistan said it was indefinitely suspending oil exports through Turkey as a precaution.
Winter weather and damage to airports restricts earthquake aid
Arduous weather conditions and damage to transport links are hampering efforts to rescue thousands of people injured by the two savage earthquakes.
The 7.8-magnitude night-time tremor, followed hours later by a slightly smaller one, wiped out entire sections of major Turkish cities in a region filled with millions of people who have fled the civil war in Syria and other conflicts.
A winter blizzard has covered major roads in ice and snow, while officials said the quake made three major airports in the area inoperable, further complicating deliveries of vital aid.
Images posted to social media showed the runway of Hatay airport in southern Turkey torn in two by the quake.
Turkish president Erdogan conveyed his sympathies and urged national unity, saying 'We hope that we will get through this disaster together as soon as possible and with the least damage.'
Part of a runway at Hatay airport in southern Turkey was severely damaged by the quake
Map of 7.8-magnitude earthquake that devastated Turkey and Syria
The earthquake hit before dawn near the Turkish city of Gaziantep, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Syrian border.
Turkish president says earthquake is 'largest disaster since 1939'
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has described today's earthquake as a historic disaster.
The 7.8 magnitude quake was centred on the province of Kahramanmaras and shook southern Turkey and northern Syria overnight, and was followed by another powerful tremor with a 7.5 magnitude in the same region at around 1024 GMT.
Erdogan said 2,818 buildings collapsed after the first tremor, describing it as the country's 'largest disaster' since 1939 when a major quake struck the eastern province of Erzincan.
In 1999, a tremor of a similar magnitude devastated Izmit and the heavily populated eastern Marmara Sea region near Istanbul, killing more than 17,000.
'Everyone is putting their heart and soul into efforts, although the winter season, cold weather and the earthquake happening during the night make things more difficult,' he told reporters in a news conference at Turkey's disaster coordination centre in Ankara.
'We do not know how high the casualty numbers will go as efforts to lift the debris continue in several buildings in the earthquake zone,' he said.
ANKARA, TURKIYE - FEBRUARY 06: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Death toll from earthquakes passes 1,500
The number of people killed by earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria today has crossed 1,500.
A total of 912 people in Turkey have been confirmed dead. Syrian state television said 371 of its people died - though that toll is thought to include only those living in government-held areas.
Syria's White Helmets rescue organisation said 221 people were killed in Syrian opposition-held regions.
These figures suggest 1,504 people have died so far, with the number of casualties expected to increase significantly.
Turkey has been hit by a second huge earthquake, hours after an earlier catastrophic quake devastated the region, killing more than 1,400 people and injuring thousands more, while toppling thousands of buildings.
The second quake hit at 1:24 pm (1024 GMT), two-and-a-half miles south-southeast of the town of Ekinozu and around 60 miles north of the first quake that wrought devastation across Turkey and Syria, and as rescue workers continued their efforts.
The 7.5 magnitude quake struck as hundreds were still believed to be trapped under rubble as a result of the first, and the toll was expected to rise as rescue workers searched mounds of wreckage in cities and towns across the area.
International community pledges aid for Turkey and Syria
Countries around the globe pledged to send humanitarian aid to Turkey and Syria after a brutal 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit overnight.
Both Russia and Ukraine said support was on its way, given Turkey's ongoing role as a mediator between the warring nations.
Greece, which has a history of conflict and tensions with Turkey, set aside the rivalry and declared it was mobilising resources for immediate humanitarian assistance.
Spain, Poland, India, Taiwan and Israel have also announced plans to draw up assistance packages and deploy search and rescue personnel.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the organisation's network of emergency medical teams has been activated to provide essential health care for the injured and most vulnerable affected by the earthquake.
European Commissioner for Crisis Management said the EU's 24/7 Emergency Response Coordination Centre had been in contact with the Turkish authorities and had activated its emergency Copernicus satellite mapping service to help first responders working on the ground.
People carry a victim as rescuers search for survivors under the rubble, following an earthquake, in rebel-held town of Jandaris, Syria February 6, 2023. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
More than 1,400 people are dead after a huge earthquake hit Turkey and Syria
More than 1,400 people have been killed and thousands more injured in a catastrophic 7.8-magnitude earthquake that rocked Turkey and Syria overnight, flattening entire neighbourhoods while many families were still asleep.
Tremors from the deadly quake - which lasted about a minute and could be Turkey's largest ever - were felt as far away as Egypt, Lebanon and the island of Cyprus, while a tsunami warning was briefly issued by authorities in Italy along the country's coast.
Residents were jolted awake and fled from their homes in terror into the cold, rainy and snowy night across southeast Turkey and northern Syria, taking shelter in cars from a wave of at least 40 aftershocks and collapsing buildings.
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