BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 7. Azerbaijan demonstrates solidarity with fraternal Türkiye in the elimination of the consequences of the devastating earthquake that occurred on February 6, 2023 in the province of Kahramanmaras and adjacent regions of Türkiye, Trend reports via the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.
According to the ministry, following the instructions of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, in order to support the search and rescue operations carried out in the earthquake area, on February 6, the rapid response rescue forces of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Azerbaijan, numbering 420 people, with appropriate equipment and search and rescue dogs, was sent to Türkiye and has already begun search work.
Besides, in order to eliminate the consequences of the earthquake, mobile field hospitals of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, provided with the necessary medical equipment and supplies, as well as a group of 41 specialists, have already been sent to Türkiye.
Following the instructions of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the group of military medical specialists of the Azerbaijani army, consisting of 10 military doctors and eight assistants, is in the disaster area in Türkiye.
In order to identify and evacuate Azerbaijani citizens affected by the earthquake, operational headquarters are functioning in the Azerbaijani Embassy in Türkiye, consulate generals in Istanbul and Kars.
Based on the appeals of citizens received by hotline, a list of Azerbaijani citizens who settled or temporarily reside in the provinces affected by the earthquake (Kahramanmaras, Hatay, Adana, Malatya, Gaziantep, Adiyaman, Sanliurfa, Kilis, Osmaniye, Diyarbakir, Elazig and Mersin) is compiled.
Citizens wishing to evacuate to Azerbaijan are provided with accommodation in buses allocated for this purpose.
To ensure that adverse weather conditions do not create obstacles to the evacuation process, negotiations are underway to eliminate these restrictions with Turkish government agencies.
Today, starting from 15:00 (GMT+4), evacuation buses will start running to Azerbaijan from the bus stations of the Turkish provinces of Kahramanmaras, Malatya, Gaziantep and Adana. At the first stage, the evacuation of students studying in Türkiye and persons in need of urgent assistance will be carried out.
At present, a group of employees of the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Türkiye and the military attache at the embassy has been sent to the earthquake-affected regions to ensure the implementation of the evacuation process by land.
Azerbaijani citizens who are in one of the 10 above regions and wish to be evacuated should call at +90 536 459 40 35, +90 536 471 55 68, +90 501 031 80 80, +90 552 627 92 94 and +90 532 254 19 33.
An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7 has hit southeastern Türkiye on Feb. 6, 2023. The earthquake occurred at a depth of seven kilometers in the Pazarcik region of Kahramanmaras Province. The provinces of Hatay, Gaziantep, Kilis, Osmaniye, Malatya, Adiyaman, Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, Adana and Kahramanmaras were subjected to severe destruction.
The quake’s epicenter was located 26 km away from the city of Gaziantep with a population of about 1.06 million.
Türkiye’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority said that three more earthquakes with a magnitude of 6.4-6.6 rocked Gaziantep province in south-eastern Türkiye. As a result of the earthquake that hit Türkiye, strong tremors were also felt in Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, and Cyprus.
According to the latest data, as a result of the earthquake, 3,549 people were killed, 22,168 people were injured, and 5,775 buildings were destroyed.