BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 12. Upon the instruction of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the rescue forces of the Ministry of Emergency Situations continue search and rescue operations to eliminate the consequences of the devastating earthquake in Türkiye, Trend reports citing the ministry.
According to the ministry, as a result of search and rescue operations carried out by rescuers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in the Kahramanmarash region, which was seriously affected by the earthquake, 51 people have been rescued, and bodies of 518 people were pulled from the rubble.
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.