February 6, 2023 Turkey-Syria earthquake news

By Tara Subramaniam, Rhea Mogul, Adam Renton, Aditi Sangal, Leinz Vales, Elise Hammond, Maureen Chowdhury and Amir Vera, CNN

Updated 0503 GMT (1303 HKT) February 7, 2023
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3:44 p.m. ET, February 6, 2023

More than 75 aftershocks so far today in Turkey, according to US agency

From CNN's Taylor Ward

At least 77 aftershocks measuring 4.0 or greater have occurred since a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck southern Turkey Monday morning local time, according to the United States Geological Survey.

Three of the aftershocks have measured 6.0 or greater, including a magnitude 7.5 earthquake that struck 95 kilometers (59 miles) north of the epicenter of the main quake.

The aftershocks stretch for more than 300 kilometers (185 miles) along the fault zone that ruptured in southern Turkey, oriented from southwest to northeast and stretching from the border with Syria up through the province of Malatya.

 

3:34 p.m. ET, February 6, 2023

In Syria, earthquake survivors are sleeping outside "in the freezing cold," eyewitnesses say

From CNN’s Celine Alkhaldi

Conditions in northwest Syria are “terrifying” in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake on Monday, according to eyewitnesses.

The quake left “entire families dead” and “survivors sleeping on the streets in the freezing cold,” they told CNN.

Dr. Mostafa Edo, a Country Director for the US-based NGO MedGlobal – who has lived in Idlib for the past three years – spent Monday distributing aid to hospitals across Syria’s northwest region. 

He said what made this earthquake particularly terrifying was how long it lasted.

“In the building where I live [in Idlib], my neighbor lives with his parents, both of whom have a disability. He couldn’t leave home during the earthquake because he had to stay by their side because they couldn’t leave home. They had to stay in place for hours that were absolutely horrific as the earthquake and aftershocks took place,” Edo said. 

He added, “One of my colleagues, who I’ve worked with for more than five years, was killed about two years ago in Russian airstrikes. I found out today that his whole family, his wife and kids, all passed away today when their building collapsed.” 

Limited resources to treat wounded: Edo said many hospitals in the area are not prepared for emergencies like this, and that his team distributed supplies to hospitals receiving the largest number of patients. There is still a high demand for supplies like orthopedic plates used to treat fractures, but that he and his team couldn’t find enough to meet that demand.

“Hospitals right now are starting to suffer from electricity outages. A great number of hospitals, which were relying on electricity supplies from Turkey over the years, will now have to start depending on generators, which require diesel,” Edo said, adding that cities he traveled to on Monday including Harem, Darkush, Kafr Takharim and Tal Mileh, have been “particularly difficult” because paramedics are unable to use heavy machinery to help with rescue operations “due to fears that people are still alive under the rubble of buildings that have totally collapsed.”

Khalil Ashawi, a photojournalist based in Jindayris in Syria’s northwest, said that in his 10 years of covering the war in Syria, he hasn’t witnessed scenes as disastrous as the ones he witnessed Monday.

“It’s a disaster. Paramedics and firefighters are trying to help, but unfortunately, there is too much for them to deal with. They can’t handle it all," Ashawi said. “Entire families have been killed. Seven to eight people from the same family, all gone. These are the sort of situations I am seeing and hearing about today,” he said. 

“It is freezing at the moment, and there are so many people sleeping in the streets right now because they have no homes to go to,” Ashawi added.

Ashawi’s family is based in Turkey. He says his mom and dad, who live in Antakya, have been missing since Monday morning. 

More than 2,700 people have been killed and thousands more injured after a powerful magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Turkey and Syria early Monday. Officials continue to update the death toll as rescue efforts continue. 

3:13 p.m. ET, February 6, 2023

Palestinian Authority to send rescue and medical teams to Turkey and Syria

From CNN’s Abeer Salman in Jerusalem

Palestinian civil defense and medical teams will be sent to Turkey and Syria to help in rescue operations following the deadly earthquake that rocked the region, the Palestinian Authority's Prime Minister, Muhammad Shtayyeh, said in a statement on Monday.

"The necessary arrangements have been made for the arrival of rescue teams with the Syrian and Turkish countries to facilitate access to the affected areas and provide assistance to the earthquake victims," Shtayyeh said.
2:45 p.m. ET, February 6, 2023

A US agency has recorded more than 60 aftershocks. Here's where they struck

After Turkey and Syria experienced the 7.8 magnitude earthquake, US Geological Survey recorded more than 60 aftershocks, including a major one at 7.5 magnitude.

Remember: All aftershocks are individual earthquakes, but as long as they are not stronger that the original, main quake, they are considered aftershocks.

Here's where these aftershocks struck:

2:42 p.m. ET, February 6, 2023

Biden and Turkish President Erdogan to speak soon, White House says

From CNN's Nikki Carvajal

President Joe Biden will speak with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “very soon,” the White House said Monday, as Turkey reels from a devastating earthquake that left thousands dead and at least 14,000 people injured. 

“We anticipate the president and President Erdogan will have an opportunity to speak very soon and we will certainly have a readout when that conversation occurs,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at an afternoon press briefing. 

 The two leaders last spoke in person at the G20 summit in November.

2:25 p.m. ET, February 6, 2023

Death toll for Turkey and Syria climbs to least 2,724 after devastating quakes, officials say

From CNN's Mia Alberti, Hira Humayun, Isil Sariyuce and Hande Atay Alam 

Workers use heavy machinery to search through the debris in Adana, on Monday, February 6.
Workers use heavy machinery to search through the debris in Adana, on Monday, February 6. (Pavel Nemecek/CTK/AP)

The death toll across Turkey and Syria has risen to at least 2,724 after a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked Turkey and Syria early Monday. 

The total number of injured climbed to 13,580, based on information provided by various agencies. Turkey has at least 11,119 injured people and Syria has 2,461 injured people following the quake.

The total death toll in Syria rose to 1,073. News agency SANA reports 593 across government-controlled areas and the "White Helmets" group, officially known as the Syria Civil Defense, reported 480 deaths in opposition-controlled areas.

The total death toll in Turkey has climbed to 1,651, according to Turkey's Vice President Fuat Oktay. 

2:18 p.m. ET, February 6, 2023

"The trembling got stronger and stronger," CNN journalist experiences quake at parents’ house in Turkey 

By Eyad Kourdi with Ivana Kottasova, CNN

This is CNN journalist Eyad Kourdi's first-hand account of experiencing the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Gaziantep, Turkey:

It was just after 4:15 a.m. and my parents woke up in terror, screaming as the ground shook underneath us. I shouted at them to take cover. “It’s going to be over soon, it’s going to be over soon,” I yelled, even as it felt like it would never end.

I wasn’t too worried at first. It’s just another minor earthquake, the kind we feel every couple of months around here, I thought. But just a few seconds later, it became so shaky that furniture was falling over and I could hear objects smashing. The force felt like somebody trying to knock me over, I could feel the violent reverberations in my chest. I fell to the ground. The shaking kept going. It was minutes before it finally stopped.

We ran out of the house, in our pajamas and slippers. It was freezing cold and pouring down with rain. There was snow on the ground. The whole neighborhood was in the streets.

Twenty minutes in, just as we thought it may be over, the first aftershocks came. I counted 11, one after another.

I rushed back inside to grab some coats and proper boots and we jumped into a car to move into an open area, away from the buildings. I heard ambulances and fire trucks heading into the old town, which is full of older, more fragile structures.

The aftershocks kept coming during the day. Some were unbelievably strong. One struck when I was right next to a badly damaged large building. A civil defense official shouted at everybody to run.

Later, I drove to Pazarcık, a town of 35,000 people that’s closer to the epicenter. It felt like Armageddon. There’s at least one completely destroyed building in every single street.

I stayed in Pazarcık for 30 minutes and, in that short time, I felt four aftershocks. It didn’t seem safe to stay, so I drove back to Gaziantep.

That’s when the ground started trembling again. It felt biblical. Everybody ran out of their cars. The shaking was so strong that I was barely able to stay on my feet. The water in the ditch next to the road was violently thrashing back and forth like in a storm.

In Gaziantep, we are sheltering inside a mosque where it’s safer than in our house. Municipal workers have been distributing water, bread and warm rice.

I know it would be even safer to stay outside, in case there are more aftershocks. But the temperature is just above freezing. My parents can’t stay in the open.

Eyad Kourdi reported from Gaziantep and Ivana Kottasova wrote from London.

1:43 p.m. ET, February 6, 2023

Several archeological sites damaged in Syria after earthquake, agency says

From CNN's Mia Alberti in Lisbon

Aleppo's ancient citadel is seen damaged following the earthquake on Monday.
Aleppo's ancient citadel is seen damaged following the earthquake on Monday. (AFP via Getty Images)

Several archeological sites in Syria were damaged following the powerful earthquake that shook the region on Monday morning, according to Syria's Directorate-General for Antiquities and Museums (DGAM).

The 13th century Aleppo Citadel "suffered minor and moderate damage in which parts of the Ottoman mill fell, [there is] cracking and falling of parts of the northeast defensive fences. Large parts of the dome of the lighthouse of the Ayubi Mosque also fell, the entrances to the castle were damaged, and parts of the stone, including the entrance of the royal defense tower, and the front of the Ottoman refuge were damaged", DGAM said in a Facebook post.

Syria’s once-storied, ancient city of Aleppo in the country’s northwest was seriously damaged in the ongoing civil war, but reopened in 2018 after reconstruction work DGAM says that artifacts inside the National Museum in Aleppo were damaged in Monday’s earthquake.

DGAM also reports damage to historical buildings and mosques in the Hama Governorate in western-central Syria, such as cracks in the structure and collapsed walls in the Imam Ismail Mosque and the Shmemis Castle.

The Al-Marqab Castle, a Crusader fortress near Baniyas, in Northwest Syria, also suffered damage, including the collapse of a block from one of its circular towers. "The tremor also led to the fall of the rock cliff in the vicinity of the Qadous Castle and the collapse of some residential buildings situated in the castle's campus," DGAM said.

Experts are still studying the full extent of the damage to the historical sites and surrounding historical buildings and neighborhoods. DGAM says it has not received "accurate information" about damage in the city of Homs. 

1:24 p.m. ET, February 6, 2023

At least 2,701 killed in Turkey and Syria

From CNN's Mia Alberti, Hira Humayun, Isil Sariyuce and Hande Atay Alam 

A man stands in front of collapsed buildings in Kahramanmaras, Turkey, on Monday.
A man stands in front of collapsed buildings in Kahramanmaras, Turkey, on Monday. (Ihlas News Agency/Reuters)

The death toll across Turkey and Syria has risen to at least 2,701 after a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked southern Turkey early Monday. 

The total number of injured in Turkey and Syria climbed to 13,572 on Monday. 

The total death toll in Syria rose to 1,050. New agency SANA reports 570 deaths across government-controlled areas and the "White Helmets" group, officially known as the Syria Civil Defense, reported 480 deaths in opposition-controlled areas.

The total death toll in Turkey has climbed to 1,651, according to Turkey's Vice President Fuat Oktay. There are now 9,733 people injured in Turkey, Oktay also said. 

At least 11,119 people have been injured in Turkey and 2,453 have been injured in Syria following the earthquake.