Earthquake in Turkey: death toll exceeds 1600, seven days of mourning declared

According to the Anadolu Agency, Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca reported 11,119 injured people. 

According to the Turkish Government's Disaster Management Authority (AFAD), 2,834 buildings have been destroyed in 10 provinces across the country.

The Turkish authorities urged people not to return to their homes for fear of repeated aftershocks.

Turkey's president has declared seven days of national mourning in the country.

“Due to the earthquakes that occurred in our country on February 6, 2023, a national mourning period of seven days has been declared. Our flags will be at half-mast until sunset on Sunday, February 12, 2023, at all missions of our country and abroad,” Erdogan said in his order.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="tr" dir="ltr">6 Şubat 2023 tarihinde ülkemizde meydana gelen depremler sebebiyle yedi gün süreyle millî yas ilan edilmiştir. Bütün yurtta ve dış temsilciliklerimizde 12 Şubat 2023 Pazar günü güneşin batışına kadar bayrağımız yarıya çekilecektir. <a href="https://t.co/WsXvTpyr6y">pic.twitter.com/WsXvTpyr6y</a></p>&mdash; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RTErdogan) <a href="https://twitter.com/RTErdogan/status/1622650586607808512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 6, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

This was announced by the spokesman for Ukraine's Foreign Ministry, Oleh Nikolenko

He noted that Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has taken the issue of providing assistance to Ukrainians in the wake of the earthquake in Turkey under his personal control.

The Ukrainian embassy has already set up an operational headquarters and used the capabilities of the Consulate General in Istanbul and the Consulate in Antalya. In addition, diplomats are already cooperating with Turkish rescue services.

Nikolenko also said that as of 2:46 pm, 24 appeals had been received from people looking for contact with relatives living in the earthquake zone. According to Ukraine’s Ambassador to Turkey Vasyl Bondar, some of them have already been contacted. In a commentary for Espreso TV, the diplomat noted that it is currently not possible to contact most of them due to the destruction of infrastructure and lack of communication in the regions. No information has been received on casualties among Ukrainian citizens as a result of the earthquake, and their whereabouts are currently being investigated.

Bondar also added that the operational headquarters at the consulate is now, in addition to coordinating communication with Ukrainian citizens, dealing with the issue of possible assistance. In particular, they are talking about mobilizing their own resources, the community, business, and helping the victims of the earthquake.

“It's not necessarily about our citizens. We are now thinking about organizing a fundraiser and there may be a need for blood donations. These are the pressing issues that exist in Turkish society,” Bondar emphasized.

According to the Turkish Anadolu Agency reported on the situation. "The earthquake, which occurred today at 04:17 a.m. local time, was the largest disaster in the history of Turkey since the 1939 Erzincan earthquake. Unfortunately, the 912 deaths are not the final figure," Erdogan said.

The death toll from the earthquake in Syria has risen to 326 people, with at least 1,042 injured.

As of 06:30 am, 76 people were killed and at least 440 injured in seven provinces of Turkey. In addition, at least a hundred people were killed in five Syrian provinces that were also affected by the earthquake, and search operations continue.

The quake was recorded at 04:17 local time, at a depth of 7 km. The highest level of alert has been declared in Turkey, and the government has appealed for international assistance.

Previously, about 23 dead and 420 injured were reported in Malatya province, 6 dead and 79 injured in Diyarbakır l province, 15 dead and 30 injured in Şanlıurfa province.

Anadolu notes that 32 aftershocks were recorded after the earthquake, with the strongest magnitude of 6.6. Aftershocks were also felt in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.

• On the night of November 22 to 23, an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.9 to 6.0 occurred in Turkey, near Istanbul.