The quake, which struck in the early darkness of a winter morning, was also felt in Cyprus and Lebanon
The flag of Turkey. Picture: REUTERS/ALKIS KONSTANTINIDIS
“The situation is very tragic. Tens of buildings have collapsed in the city of Salqin,” a member of the White Helmets rescue organisation said in a video clip on Twitter, referring to a town about 5km from the Turkish border.Many buildings in the region had already suffered damage in fighting during Syria's nearly 12-year-long civil war.
“Everybody is sitting in their cars or trying to drive to open spaces away from buildings,” Erdem said by telephone. “I imagine not a single person in Gaziantep is in their homes now.” “Our primary job is to carry out the search-and-rescue work and to do that all our teams are on alert,” Turkish interior minister Suleyman Soylu told reporters.
Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority put the magnitude of the quake at 7.4 near Kahramanmaras and the larger city of Gaziantep, close to the Syrian border.
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