Posted on 02/07/2023 9:09:34 AM PST by Red Badger
Feb. 7 (UPI) -- Turkish President Recep Erdogan announced a three-month state of emergency on Tuesday, as the death toll from a powerful earthquake that struck southern Turkey surpassed 5,000.
The declaration covers 10 provinces most affected by the 7.8-magnitude tremblor that hit the Pazarcik district in Kahramanmaras Province on Monday, while also impacting neighboring areas in northwest Syria.
"We are facing one of the biggest disasters not only in the history of the Turkish Republic but also of our geography and the world," Erdogan said.
Erdogan added that it was the nation's "biggest relief" that more than 8,000 people had been rescued so far, adding that 53,300 search-and-rescue staff were surveying the area.
"This number is increasing with every passing hour, with teams coming from across the country and world," he said.
Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Agency said the death toll rose overnight to 3,549, state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Figures from Syria are hampered by the ongoing civil war, but the government of President Bashar al-Assad reported 812 deaths in areas it controls, state-run SANA news reported, with the humanitarian organization Syria Civil Defense, better known as the White Helmets, tallying more than 790 additional deaths in other parts of northwestern Syria.
The death toll, however, is expected to continue to rise by the thousands as rescuers search for survivors and find bodies in the more than 5,600 buildings Turkish officials said were destroyed in the country. The White Helmets said Monday there were more than 210 collapsed buildings in territory it works in alone.
"Time is running out," the White Helmets said on its official Twitter account early Tuesday. "Hundreds still trapped under the rubble. Every second could mean saving a life.
"We appeal to all humanitarian organizations and international bodies to provide material support and assistance to organizations responding to this disaster."
In Turkey, the AFAD said 13,740 search-and-rescue personnel, along with a cadre of vehicles and equipment, have been deployed to affected regions, while thousands more from around the world were rushing to join them.
The U.S. Agency for International Development said it had activated Virginia Task Force 1, the urban search-and-rescue team of the Fairfax County fire department, and the USA-2 International Rescue Team from the Los Angeles County Fire Department, to deploy to respond to the quake.
White Helmets Director Raed Al Saleh met with USAID head Samantha Power to discuss the best ways to assist earthquake victims, the group said on Twitter.
So far, the European Union has deployed 1,150 search-and-rescue personnel and 70 dogs that make up 27 teams to Turkey, Janez Lenarcic, the European commissioner of crisis management, said via Twitter on Tuesday.
Britain, Greece, Israel and the United States and have also offered assistance.
And the World Health Organization is planning to transport medical supplies, including major surgical trauma kits, to Syria and Turkey on three chartered flights.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said they are "especially concerned about areas where we do not yet have information" but damage mapping is ongoing.
"This is a moment when we must come together in solidarity, as one humanity, to save lives and alleviate the suffering of people who have already suffered so much," he said Tuesday during an executive board meeting.
https://citizenfreepress.com/breaking/second-7-5-mag-earthquake-strikes-turkey-apocalyptic-scenes-cities-in-ruin/
The devastation is really amazing.
One particularly odd thing is a Dutch researcher predicted the earthquake a few days in advance.
https://twitter.com/hogrbe/status/1621479563720118273/photo/1
This map was published on February 3.
Maybe GOD is tired of Islam also?
Inshallah..................
I really liked Turkey when I was there.
Most of the folks I met were ‘Muslim’ about the way lots of British folks are ‘Episcopalian”. Go to church/mosque a couple of times a year at most (want to buy a carpet), weddings, funerals (great carpet, great price), and were friendly and gracious. This was back in ‘99, but I thought then that Istanbul (still Constantinople to me) was pretty chill; more about doing business than giving a fig about religion.
Should have bought a few rugs when I was there, too; about 1/20th the price of the same thing here.
Erdogan might be a jerk, but the Blue Mosque was about as beautiful a space as one could imagine, even though it was Hagia Sophia I was there to see.
Had a engineer co-worker at a former employer who was Turkish.
He was a riot!............😜
The elections are in June, curious what impact this will have.
Of course I figure Erdogan has the DNC Cheating mechanism in place.
Istanbul is to Turkey, what New York City is to the US, it is not representative of the country, in the center of the country, it’s pretty much like Iran.
Was the soup nazi a turk?
Don’t know........................
Meanwhile Biden is thinking about declaring a state of emergency over Roe versus Wade being overturned and over 5,000 babies not being aborted.
No. His name is Larry Thomas and he is Jewish. Born in Brooklyn. His ancestry is Russian and Romanian.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Thomas_(actor)
Meanwhile Biden is thinking about what flavor of pudding cup he’ll get for lunch..................
Massive damage, presumably most of the victims died when the buildings they were in collapsed.
drone vid:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqMUNOUVq-w
collapsing and aftermath:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBvnFR8UInk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAoWOTipAd8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6Ci0Ig2Y9Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuPVUvyHEw4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Kn_4E_orGo
more:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5wVjTiYJvs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL-JZhvXxak
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbpkSXwJeHE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTdyUhxZJhA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEwk59thJgc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwrI7sTIt6M
I wonder if building UNDER GROUND would be a better option........................
It’s been tried. :^)
AND the results ?..................
No one lives there now. :^)
Seems to me that the underground dwelling would be safer as the forces would be transferred to the sides, each floor being separate from the others above and below.
Yes, there would be damages to the rooms, from furniture, dishes on shelves, etc, being tossed about, but no collapses or pancaking...............
I’m getting more and more depressed about this listening to Lookner.
I am afraid now we are talking hundreds of thousands of deaths here.
Kind of makes all the other stuff going on seem trivial.
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