Weather of Arabia - Two large earthquakes struck the southeastern region of Turkey near the border with Syria on Monday (February 6, 2023), which resulted in widespread destruction of buildings and the death of thousands, in the worst disaster in Turkey's modern history, and in this article we will present the details of the earthquake We compare it with the strongest earthquakes that have hit Turkey since 1999.
The first major earthquake, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, occurred at 4:17 am (01:17 GMT) and had its epicenter in the Pazardik district of the Turkish province of Kahramanmaraş. Less than 12 hours later, a second tremor of magnitude 7.6 hit the same area, and the tremors were felt by millions of people across the region 1,000 kilometers away.
Since then, Turkey has experienced thousands of aftershocks. Aftershocks are smaller earthquakes that occur in the same area after a large earthquake.
These earthquakes left the affected areas in a catastrophic state, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared a three-month state of emergency in 10 provinces in southeastern Turkey, and these provinces are: Kahramanmaraş, Adana, Adiyaman, Osmaniye, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Sanliurfa, Diyar Bakr and Gaziantep.
On the Syrian side, the earthquake-affected areas are divided between government- and opposition-held territories in the country, affecting rescue operations and aid access.
The total number of deaths as a result of the major earthquake that occurred in southern Turkey and northern Syria on the sixth of last February reached 51 thousand and 3 people, as the number of deaths in Turkey reached 45 thousand and 89 people, while the number of deaths in Syria reached 5914 deaths.
The earthquake and the strong aftershocks that followed it injured more than 108,000 people in Turkey, and about two million people were displaced from the affected areas, which witnessed more than 11,000 aftershocks since the first earthquake.
The administration stated that it has set up more than 350,000 tents to house the displaced, and tent cities have been established in 332 locations throughout the region. Container dwellings have also been erected at 162 sites.
More than 160,000 buildings collapsed or were severely damaged by the earthquake.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has pledged to rebuild the damaged homes within a year, but it will take several months for thousands of afflicted people to leave tents or container homes and move to permanent housing.
Read also: Why did the earthquake in Turkey and Syria cause all this destruction and deaths?
Turkey is located in one of the most seismically active regions in the world. Monday's 7.8-magnitude earthquake surpassed the magnitude 7.6 that hit the country in 1999, and for 45 seconds the catastrophic earthquake shook Marmara in August 1999, a densely populated district south of Istanbul. Within days, the official death toll was more. from 17 thousand.
Here is an infographic about the worst earthquakes in Turkey during the past 24 years:
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