BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 8. Azerbaijan became the first country to provide assistance to Türkiye after the earthquake, according to an article published in the DHA, Trend reports.
The article notes that after the earthquake, which plunged Türkiye into mourning, many countries offered their help, but Azerbaijan was the first country to provide assistance.
"On the very first day of this catastrophe, when the number of dead and wounded has been increasing every hour, a search and rescue group from Azerbaijan has arrived in the earthquake zone. There are 120 people working in Kahramanmarash, which was the epicenter of the earthquake, and 250 in other provinces. Fully staffed professional teams of 10, 15, 20 people are putting great efforts to save people's lives at the site of collapsed buildings in the earthquake zone. These teams rescue people from under piles of rubble. They also help to pull out the bodies of the dead from under the rubble," the article said.
An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7 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, 5,434 people were killed, 31,777 people were injured, and 5,775 buildings were destroyed.
Following Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's order, the rapid reaction forces of the country involving 420 people were sent to Türkiye on Feb. 6 to support the search and rescue efforts carried out in the earthquake area. The team provided with the proper equipment, as well as with search and rescue dogs, have already commenced searching operations.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Emergency Situations has sent well-equipped mobile field hospitals, as well as a group of 41 specialists to Türkiye in order to eliminate the quake implications. The relief supplies containing tents, blankets, heaters, as well as three containers for a mobile field hospital were also sent by the other aircraft.