Two earthquakes with a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale occurred in the early morning and afternoon of Monday (6th) in the provinces bordering Syria in southern Turkey. People get hurt. Turkey’s emergency services put the local death toll at 2,921 and wounded 15,834, while in Syria, the combined death toll in government-held and opposition-held areas stood at 1,451 and 3,531 wounded. The World Health Organization estimates that the death toll from the earthquake may be as high as 20,000.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered the country to mourn for 7 days until the 12th of this month; The Turkish emergency department also stated that at least 5,600 buildings in the country collapsed, and more than 7,800 people were rescued from the rubble after the earthquake.
The EU has launched a humanitarian mechanism to participate in disaster relief, and a total of 13 EU countries have participated. The European Commission stated that the European Union’s Emergency Response Coordination Center is in direct contact with the Turkish government and is ready to provide support at any time; the European Union’s Copernicus satellite system has also been activated to provide emergency imagery services. Although the Syrian government has not requested assistance from the European Union, the European Commission stated that the European Union is ready to help Syrian victims through humanitarian mechanisms.
