Death toll from powerful twin earthquakes in Turkey rises to 44,218

ISTANBUL - At least 44,218 people have been killed by two strong earthquakes that jolted southern Turkey on Feb 6, the country’s disaster management agency said on Friday.

Teams set up nearly 335,400 tents that were dispatched by ministries and relevant institutions, as well as other countries and international organisations, in the earthquake zone, Anadolu Agency cited the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD).

More than 11,400 local and international search and rescue personnel are currently working in the field, it added.

Four mobile social service centres were assigned to disaster psychological support efforts in Kahramanmaras, Hatay, Osmaniye, and Malatya. Nearly 912,000 people have received psychosocial support, with some 615,000 in the earthquake zone and 297,000 outside the quake zone.

AFAD said the quakes, centred in the Kahramanmaras province, were followed by 9,136 aftershocks.

The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 tremors struck 10 other provinces - Hatay, Gaziantep, Adiyaman, Malatya, Adana, Diyarbakir, Kilis, Osmaniye, Sanliurfa, and Elazig. Some 13.5 million people have been affected by the devastating quakes.

Several countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon, also felt the strong trembles that struck Turkiye in the space of fewer than 10 hours. - BERNAMA