Ankara/ Damascus: Death toll climbed to more than 1000 in devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria
A rescue operation is under way across much of southern Turkey and northern Syria following a huge earthquake that has killed more than 1,000 people.
Turkey’s President Recep Erdogan says 912 people have been killed in Turkey alone, and 5,383 wounded, due to the earthquake.
He says he can’t predict how much the death toll will rise by as search and rescue efforts continue.
This is the country’s largest disaster since 1939, Erdogan tells reporters, adding that 2,818 buildings collapsed as a result.
The earthquake has occurred around a region of instability called the East Anatolian fault, which runs south-west to north-west of the south-eastern border of Turkey.
Seismologists have long recognised that this fault is very dangerous, though there has not been any significant activity for more than 100 years, but it has been responsible for very damaging earthquakes in the past.
The 7.8 magnitude quake struck in the early hours of Monday while people were asleep and dozens of aftershocks have been felt since
