Earthquake of 7.8 magnitude strikes Turkey; 95 killed, several injured

A powerful earthquake measuring 7.8 on Richter Scale hit Turkey, killing at least 95 and injured several others after several buildings toppled down on February 6.

The tremors were felt upto Syria, Lebanon and Cyprus. Several buildings collapsed in Aleppo in northern Syria, officials said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took to Twitter and said, “Search and rescue teams have been immediately dispatched to the areas hit by the earthquake”.

According to the US Geological Survey, a powerful earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale struck southern Turkey in the wee hours of Monday, February 5, followed by another strong temblor of magnitude 6.7.

The epicentre of the original earthquake was 17.9 km beneath the surface, 26 km east of Nurdagi City in the province of Gaziantep. At a depth of 9.9 kilometres, the second one struck central Turkey minutes later.

A Reuters witness in Diyarbakir, 350 km to the east, said the tremor, which lasted about a minute, broke windows.
According to BNO News, numerous buildings fell as a result of the earthquake, and many people were reportedly afraid to be stuck in the rubble.

Buildings were reduced to ruins in videos published on Twitter, and people could be heard screaming and fled for their lives. India Today was unable to independently verify the videos' validity.

The director of the Turkish Red Cross asked residents to leave damaged homes as the organisation was mobilising services for the area after learning of catastrophic damage and collapsed buildings.

According to witnesses, residents of the Lebanese cities of Beirut and Tripoli, as well as the Syrian capital Damascus, fled their homes in case of building collapses by taking to the streets on foot and driving their automobiles.

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