Ankara: : President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey will observe seven days of national mourning for the victims of Monday’s earthquake.
“A national mourning period has been declared for seven days. Our flag will be hoisted at half-mast until sunset on Sunday, February 12, 2023, in all our national and foreign representative offices,” Erdogan said in a tweet.
World leaders pledged to send aid after Turkey issued an international appeal for help.
Authorities said 16 structures collapsed in Sanliurfa and 34 in Osmaniye. Broadcasters TRT and Haberturk showed footage of people picking through building wreckage, moving stretchers and seeking survivors in the city of Kahramanmaras, where it was still dark.
6 Şubat 2023 tarihinde ülkemizde meydana gelen depremler sebebiyle yedi gün süreyle millî yas ilan edilmiştir. Bütün yurtta ve dış temsilciliklerimizde 12 Şubat 2023 Pazar günü güneşin batışına kadar bayrağımız yarıya çekilecektir. pic.twitter.com/WsXvTpyr6y
— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RTErdogan) February 6, 2023
According to Türkiye’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) the 7.8 magnitude quake struck at 4.17 a.m. (0117GMT) and was centered in the Pazarcik district in Türkiye’s southern province of Kahramanmaras.
The quake occurred at a depth of 7 kilometers (4.3 miles).
AFAD said in a statement that 78 aftershocks occurred following the earthquake. Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Diyarbakır,
Adana, Adıyaman, Malatya, Osmaniye, Hatay, and Kilis provinces are heavily affected by the quake.
National Education Minister Mahmut Ozer said schools in Diyarbakır, Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Adana, Osmaniye and Kilis provinces will be closed for one week.
The health personnel assigned from the National Defense Ministry and the Health Ministry departed from Ankara to the region with two military ambulance planes.
Besides rescue teams, blankets, and food, psychological support teams were also sent to the region.
President Tayyip Erdogan spoke by telephone with the governors of eight affected provinces to gather information on the situation and rescue efforts, his office said in a statement.
“We hope that we will get through this disaster together as soon as possible and with the least damage,” the Turkish leader tweeted.
According to Türkiye state-run news agency Anadolu after the earthquake, an “air aid corridor” was created by the
Turkish Armed Forces to deliver search and rescue teams to the region.
“We mobilized our planes to send medical teams, search and rescue teams and their vehicles to the earthquake zone.
We have maximized the readiness of our aircraft to provide the necessary transportation service,” National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said.
