BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 9. The process of evacuating citizens of Azerbaijan from Turkish Kahramanmaras and other earthquake-hit provinces is currently underway, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan told Trend.
On February 8, 2023, 190 Azerbaijani citizens and their close relatives who are foreign nationals were taken from the provinces of Gaziantep, Kahramanmaras, Adana and Hatay to Azerbaijan by bus. Since the day of the earthquake, 395 people have been sent to Azerbaijan by nine buses, and 183 people of them are already in Azerbaijan, the ministry noted.
According to the ministry, the corresponding measures are being taken to evacuate Azerbaijani citizens from Gaziantep and Adana provinces.
"Four Azerbaijani citizens are reported dead, following the destructive earthquake – Naila Bunyatova (born in 1980), Rana Mammadova (Okten), born in 1973, Sevinj Mammadova (born in 1975), and Leyla Karli (born in 1976). We contacted the relatives of the quake victims. Leyla Karli will be buried by her family in Türkiye, and relevant actions are underway to send the rest bodies to Azerbaijan. May Allah rest the souls of the victims," the ministry said.
A 7.7-magnitude earthquake 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 the severe destruction.
The quake’s epicenter was located 26 km away from the city of Gaziantep with a population of about 1.06 million. Following the latest data, 16,546 people have been killed, and 66,132 have got injured in the quake.