Three Massive Earthquakes In Turkey And Syria, Over 2500 Killed, Bad Weather Hits Rescue Ops. Key Points

Turkiye Earthquake Updates: Turkey, hit by the most powerful earthquake in nearly a century, saw rescue operations being hampered by a winter blizzard that covered major roads with snow.

Rescue operations were hampered by a winter blizzard that covered major roads with snow

Source : AP

More than 2,500 people were killed and thousands injured after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Turkey and Syria on Monday, the most powerful earthquake in nearly a century. The earthquake, which struck early morning on Monday in south-eastern Turkey, near the Syrian border, was followed by two more powerful tremors.

The toll in Turkey has crossed 1,600, according to the country's disaster management agency, while more than 900 have died in Syria, the BBC reported.

The number is expected to rise further as rescue workers worked round the clock to search for survivors through tangles of metal and concrete amid rows of collapsed buildings.

"I have never felt anything like it in the 40 years I've lived. We were shaken at least three times very strongly, like a baby in a crib," said one survivor in Gaziantep, southern Turkey, to BBC.

Turkey is situated in one of the world's most active earthquake zones, with land stretching over the Anatolian fault line in the north of the country that has caused destructive tremors in the past.

Turkey, Syria Earthquake Key Highlights

• The early morning magnitude 7.8 quake was followed by a second 7.7 temblor in the middle of the day on Monday, which struck Elbistan district in Kahramanmaras province. A third earthquake of magnitude 6 struck Turkey 30 minutes after the second quake. 
• Tremors were felt as far away as Lebanon, Greece, Israel and the island of Cyprus.
• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the disaster was the worst the country had seen since 1939, when the Erzincan earthquake in eastern Turkey killed nearly 33,000 people.
• Rescue operations were hampered by a winter blizzard that covered major roads with snow, AFP reported. Officials said the quake made three major airports in the area inoperable, further complicating deliveries of vital aid.
• Offers of help -- from search-and-rescue teams to medical supplies and financial aid -- poured in from dozens of countries, including India as well as the European Union and NATO.
• India said it would dispatch search and rescue teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), medical teams and relief material to Turkey. Two teams of the NDRF, comprising 100 personnel, with specially trained dog squads were being flown to the middle eastern country.
• In Syria, a CNN report said most casualties were reported from government-controlled areas of Aleppo, Hama, Latakia, and Tartus.
• Strained health facilities and hospitals were quickly filled with injured people, swamping the health infrastructure. Other specialised centres had to be emptied, including a maternity hospital, AP reported.
• In Turkey, mosques around the earthquake region were opened to provide shelter for people unable to return to damaged homes amid freezing temperatures.
• Photos showed entire buildings flattened, with metal rods scattered across the streets. Cars have toppled over, with bulldozers working to clear the debris. The historic Gaziantep Castle, believed to have been built more than 2,200 years ago, has been heavily damaged.