According to early reports from Kandilli Observatory, the earthquake was recorded at 7.5 magnitude and its center is Gaziantep. The Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency measured the earthquake at 7.4. Both institutions later revised their reports to 7.7.
According to first reports from the Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, the quake was recorded at 7.5, originating from Gaziantep province; while the The Disaster and Emergency Management Office reported 7.4, originating from Kahramanmaraş. The Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC) recorded that the earthquake occurred in Gaziantep with a magnitude of 7.8. The earthquake originated from a depth of 7 km. According to the Disaster and Emergency Management Office Earthquake Risk Reduction General Manager Orhan Tatar, at least 78 aftershocks occurred, the largest of which was measured at 6.6 magnitude. At 12:55 local time, both the observatory and government emergency office revised their measurements to 7.7 magnitude.
The earthquake originated on or near the Eastern Anatolian fault line. Turkey sits on several fault lines which make earthquakes a regular occurrence. However earthquakes of this magnitude are in fact rare.
Vice President Fuat Oktay had announced earlier that 284 people lost their lives, 2,323 people were injured, and 1,710 buildings were destroyed so far:
“We lost 70 of our citizens in Maraş. We expect these numbers to increase.
200 were injured and 300 buildings collapsed in Maraş.
There are 4 casualties, 7 injured and 200 collapsed buildings in Hatay.
20 people are missing, 200 injured and 83 collapsed buildings in Osmaniye.
13 missing, 22 injured, 100 collapsed buildings in Adıyaman.
14 deaths in Diyarbakır.
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18 missing, 200 injured, 60 collapsed buildings in Urfa.
80 dead and 581 collapsed buildings in Antep.
8 dead, 50 collapsed buildings in Kilis.
10 dead, 118 injured in Adana.
There are 47 dead, 550 injured and 300 collapsed buildings in Malatya.
Total; There are 284 casualties, 2323 injured and 1710 collapsed buildings.”
Kerem Kınık, the President of Turkish Red Crescent stated that they had sufficient stock but still called for people from across the country to donate blood.
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, announced that 311 personnel were sent to the region.
İmamoğlu said: “The district municipalities of Istanbul are on high alert and are contributing to rescue efforts and providing assistance and equipment. 311 of our personnel – including search and rescue teams – have been dispatched to the region.”
Post disaster
- Provinces of Adana and Mersin have closed down the schools at least for the week.
- Turkey’s natural gas distributor BOTAŞ has stopped the flow of natural gas into the region as a precautionary measure and has announced that they are currently conducting damage assessment of the affected areas.
- The Defense Ministry has announced that cargo planes are being prepared for airlift operations.
- The Directorate of Communications announced that cell service capacity and communications bandwidth in the area are being boosted and requested that people in the area use text messaging to communicate and refrain from phone and video calls.
Interior Minister: Level 4 Alarm
Interior Minister Soylu stated: “There are reports coming in from many places. Our search and rescue teams have now been dispatched to the regions. Our cargo planes are being prepared and dispatched to the region. Our first task is search and rescue work. For this, all our teams are on alert. We’re on Level 4 alarm, which triggers a call for international assistance.
Elon Musk offer of Starlink declined
Musk said on Twitter that Space Exploration Technologies could provide the Starlink network as soon as approved by the Turkish government. According to reporting from Bloomberg, Musk’s offer was politely declined by an unnamed Turkish official stating that Turkey possessed sufficient satellite broadband capacity and that Starlink network was not needed.
