Mapping the aftermath of the Turkey, Syria quake
More than 21,000 people died and thousands were injured in an earthquake that hit central Turkey and north-west Syria on Feb 6.
The magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck early on Feb 6. Tremors were felt in several neighbouring countries.
Note: The ground movements caused by an earthquake are represented in what is known as a shakemap. The information is different from the earthquake’s magnitude and epicentre. A shakemap focuses on the variation in ground shaking produced by the earthquake, rather than describing the earthquake’s source or strength.
Sources: United States Geological Survey; Shuttle Radar Topography Mission; Natural Earth
Vijdan Mohammad Kawoosa | Reuters, Feb 6, 2023
A major earthquake killed at least 21,000 people and injured thousands more on Feb 6 in central Turkey and north-west Syria, flattening apartment blocks and heaping more destruction on Syrian cities already devastated by years of war.
The quake, which hit in the early darkness of a winter morning, was also felt in Cyprus and Lebanon. It was followed in the early afternoon by another magnitude 7.7 quake.
In Turkey, some 6,500 buildings have collapsed as a result of the magnitude 7.8 earthquake and its aftershocks, said a Red Cross official.
It is the most severe quake to hit Turkey since 1999, when one of similar magnitude devastated Izmit and the heavily populated eastern Marmara Sea region near Istanbul, killing more than 17,000.
The earthquake is among the strongest to impact the region to date
Earthquakes of magnitude 5 and above in and around present-day Turkey and Syria.
Note: Magnitude measures the size of the seismic waves generated by an earthquake and not the strength. The scale is logarithmic, meaning a whole number increase in magnitude represents a 10-fold jump in the size of the earthquake.
Sources: United States Geological Survey
Reuters, Feb 6, 2023
Live footage from Turkish state broadcaster TRT showed a building collapse in the southern province of Adana after the second quake. It was not immediately clear if it was evacuated.
In Syria, already wrecked by more than 11 years of civil war, at least 3,000 people are dead, according to the state health ministry.
