A strong earthquake of magnitude 7.9 struck southern Turkey and was felt in Cyprus, Lebanon and Syria. Syrian state media said several buildings collapsed in the province of Aleppo
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.
Syrian state media said a large number of buildings collapsed in the province of Aleppo, while a source in the Hama civil service said several buildings collapsed there. "Paintings fell off the walls in the house," said Samer, a resident of Damascus, the Syrian capital. "I woke up terrified. Now we’re all dressed and standing at the door."
People in Damascus, as well as in the Lebanese cities of Beirut and Tripoli ran into the street on foot and took to their cars to get away from their buildings in case of collapses, witnesses said.The head of the Turkish Red Cross said it was mobilising resources for the region as it had received information of serious damage and collapsed buildings, and urged people to evacuate damaged homes.
Reporting by Akriti Sharma in Bengaluru, Maya Gebeily in Beirut, Kinda Makieh in Damascus, Jonathan Spicer in Istanbul and Humeyra Pamuk in Washington; Editing by Tom Hogue and Clarence Fernandez
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