Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands injured in the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Turkey and parts of Syria on Monday morning, and aftershocks in recent hours are particularly strong.
In particular, a new 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck the central part of Turkey, according to the European Seismological Centre (EMSC).
The quake struck 67 km north, northeast of the city of Kahramanmaras, and had a depth of 2 km, the EMSC added.
Turkey’s AFAD said a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck the city of Kahramanmaras.
Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the death toll from the 7.8 magnitude quake that struck the country at dawn reached 912, while 5,383 people were injured.
Erdogan said he could not predict how much more the death toll would rise as search and rescue operations continued. So far 45 countries have offered assistance to Turkey, he said.
Syria’s state news agency said at least 320 people had been killed in the quake and 1,000 wounded.
Greece sends aid to Turkey
A team of 21 firefighters from the 1st Special Unit for Disasters, with two rescue dogs and a special rescue vehicle, departs in the next few hours as an aid mission to Turkey, which has been hit by a powerful earthquake.
On the orders of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Greece immediately responded to Turkey’s request for aid to deal with the devastating consequences of the strong earthquake of 7.8 on the Richter scale that occurred at dawn on February 6 in Southeast Turkey and Syria.
The team will be accompanied by an officer-engineer of the Fire Brigade specializing in the support of collapsed buildings, 5 doctors and rescuers from the Greek ambulance service as well as the President of the Earthquake Planning and Protection Agency (OASP), Efthymios Lekkas.
