Death toll in Turkey, Syria earthquake surpasses 15,000

Rescuers pulled more survivors from beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings on Thursday after a catastrophic earthquake hit Turkey and Syria, killing more than 15,000 people.

Emergency crews working through the night in the city of Antakya were able to pull a young girl from the ruins of a building and also rescued her father alive two hours later.

In Diyarbakir, east of Antakya, rescuers freed an injured woman from a collapsed building in the early morning hours but found the three people next to her in the rubble dead, the DHA news agency reported.

In addition to 12,391 people killed in Turkey, the country’s disaster management agency said more than 60,000 people have been injured.

More than 2,900 people have been reported dead on the Syria side of the border.

Tens of thousands were also said to have lost their homes.

In Antakya, former residents of a collapsed building huddled around an outdoor fire overnight into Thursday, wrapping blankets tightly around themselves to try and stay warm.

Serap Arslan said many people remained under the rubble of the nearby building, including her mother and brother.

She said machinery only started to move some of the heavy concrete on Wednesday.

“We tried to clear it by our own means, but unfortunately we are very inadequately” prepared for the job, the 45-year-old woman said.

Selen Ekimen wiped tears from her face with gloved hands as she explained that both her parents and brother were still buried.

“There’s been no sound from them for days; none,” she said.

Experts said the survival window for those trapped under the rubble or otherwise unable to obtain basic necessities was closing rapidly.

At the same time, they said it was too soon to abandon hope.

A natural hazards expert at Nottingham Trent University in England, Steven Godby, said: “The first 72 hours are considered to be critical.

“The survival ratio on average within 24 hours is 74%, after 72 hours it is 22% and by the fifth day it is 6%.”

Turkey’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, visited the hard-hit province of Hatay on Wednesday, where residents have criticized the government’s efforts, saying rescuers were slow to arrive.

According to the disaster management agency, more than 110,000 rescue personnel were now taking part in the effort and more than 5,500 vehicles, including tractors, cranes, bulldozers, and excavators had been shipped.

The task is monumental, however, with thousands of buildings toppled by the earthquake.

Erdogan, who faces a tough battle for reelection in May, acknowledged problems with the emergency response to Monday’s 7.8-magnitude quake, but said the winter weather had been a factor.

The earthquake also destroyed the runway at Hatay’s airport, further disrupting the response.

“It is not possible to be prepared for such a disaster.

“We will not leave any of our citizens uncared for,” Erdogan said.

He also hit back at critics, saying “dishonorable people” were spreading “lies and slander” about the government’s actions.

The disaster comes at a sensitive time for Erdogan, who faces an economic downturn and high inflation.

Perceptions that his government mismanaged the crisis could hurt his standing. He said the government would distribute 10,000 Turkish lira ($532) to affected families.

The earthquake’s toll has already outstripped that of a 7.8-magnitude quake in Nepal in 2015, when 8,800 died.

A 2011 earthquake in Japan triggered a tsunami, killing nearly 20,000 people.

The Star