Earthquakes Rock Turkey, Syria, Claiming at Least 3,800 Lives

A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck near the Turkish-Syrian border early Monday morning followed by another magnitude 7.5 tremor hours later, claiming the lives of at least 3,800 people.

Roughly 1,400 people died in Syria, while another 2,400 fatalities were recorded in Turkey, according to reports. Turkey’s emergency service said more than 11,100 people were injured and more than 5,600 buildings were destroyed.

“We do not know where the number of dead and injured can go,” Erdoğan told the press earlier on Monday.

“The fact that it’s winter, the weather is cold and that the earthquake happened in the middle of the night makes the work harder but everyone is working with their hearts and souls in it,” Erdoğan said.

The epicenter of the earthquakes was the Turkish border city of Gaziantep, a city of more than 2 million people, which is home to one of the largest United Nations-run refugee sites hosting those fleeing the ongoing Syrian Civil War.

“The house shook like a baby’s cradle. It was like a nightmare. I woke up the kids. I told them to stay calm. We left the building,” one local resident told the Wall Street Journal. “Everyone was shouting, crying in panic.”

“Anywhere else in the world this would be an emergency,” Mark Kaye, a spokesman for the International Rescue Committee, said in the aftermath of the tragedy, the Times reports. “What we have in Syria is an emergency within an emergency.”

The United States Geological Survey projected that the initial damage caused by the earthquakes would likely top $1 billion. A host of world leaders including French president Emmanuel Macron, and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu have pledged to assist the Turkish government’s rescue and rebuilding efforts.

“My thoughts are with the people of Türkiye and Syria this morning, particularly with those first responders working so valiantly to save those trapped by the earthquake,” British prime minister Rishi Sunak tweeted Monday.

The Gaziantep Castle, a popular tourist attraction, crumbled due to the earthquakes. Built over 6,000 years old by the Romans, and later renovated by the Seljuks, the castle was a central landmark in the city.

The pair of earthquakes are the deadliest to hit Turkey in over two decades and matched the country’s strongest-ever recorded tremor back in 1939.

Aftershocks of the earthquakes were felt as far away as Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, and Cyprus.