A 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck central and southern Turkey early Monday morning, a few dozen kilometers from the city of Gaziantep, killing dozens and injuring hundreds, according to the United States Institute of Seismology (USGS).

According to the latest estimates of the Turkish authorities, 76 dead and 440 injured were recorded, Reuters reports. At least 111 people have died in various Syrian cities, according to Syrian state media.

The earthquake was recorded at 04:17 (local time; 03:17 Greek time) at a depth of 17.9 km, the same source said.

According to the Turkish disaster management agency AFAD, the magnitude of the earthquake was 7.4. The German Geological Survey (GFZ) calculated that the earthquake had a magnitude of 7.9.

The earthquake was felt even in Lebanon, Syria and Cyprus, according to AFP correspondents. It was long, lasting nearly a minute, according to a correspondent for the Reuters news agency.

Videos uploaded to social media sites show damaged buildings in various locations in both Turkey and Syria.

In Syria, according to the Syrian news agency SANA, there are at least 111 dead and 200 injured in the Aleppo, Hama and Latakia regions.

The health official in Aleppo, who was the hardest hit, said there were still casualties under the rubble and hospitals overflowing with the wounded.

Syrian state television asked residents with cars to help transport the wounded to hospitals.

Footage broadcast by Turkey’s state broadcaster TRT shows residents of Kurdish neighborhoods running out onto the snow-covered streets.

An AFP correspondent in Diyarbakır, a major city in southeastern Turkey, saw a building completely collapse as rescuers tried to free people from the rubble.

On Twitter, Turkish citizens share the names and locations of people trapped under the rubble.

Adana City Mayor Zeydan Karalar said two apartment buildings, one 17-storey and the other 14-storey, were destroyed, TRT reported.

According to private broadcaster NTV, buildings were also destroyed in the cities of Antiyam, Diyarbakir and Malatya, raising fears that the death toll would be even higher.

Appeals for international assistance

“All our units are in a state of combat readiness. We have declared a Level 4 Alert,” Turkish Minister Suleyman Soylu said, adding that his government is seeking “international assistance.”

The United States has already responded, and Jake Sullivan, Joe Biden’s security adviser, said the US president has ordered the United States Relief Agency (USAID) and other government agencies to provide assistance to Turkey.

The Governor of Gaziantep Province has advised residents not to venture out until further notice.

According to media reports, rescue teams and Turkish civil protection, as well as Syrian firefighters, are carrying out operations to remove survivors from collapsed buildings.

Italian Civil Protection initially warned residents of southeastern Italy about the danger of a tsunami. He advised the inhabitants of these areas to temporarily move away from the coastal areas, take refuge in places with higher altitude.

However, fears of a tsunami in Italy later abated, with Italian civil protection operations director Luigi D’Angelo explaining that waves not exceeding fifteen centimeters in height have been recorded so far, and that “the initial alert appears to have been greatly reduced”.

History of earthquakes

Seismicity in Turkey is one of the highest in the world.

Authorities say a 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck the northwestern part of the country in late November, injuring about 50 people and causing minor property damage.

The same area was hit by a 7.4 magnitude earthquake in August 1999, killing at least 17,000 people, including about a thousand in Istanbul.

In January 2020, an earthquake of magnitude 6.7 struck the provinces of Elazig and Malatya, killing more than 40 people. In October of that year, a magnitude 7 earthquake killed 114 people and injured more than 1,000 off the Turkish coast in the Aegean Sea.

Source: APE-MPE, Reuters.