Deadly Earthquake Strikes Parts of Turkey and Syria
2023-02-07
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1A powerful 7.8 earthquake struck large areas of southern Turkey and northern Syria early Monday.
2At least 2,300 people were killed.
3The number of dead and injured will likely increase as rescue workers continue to search through the remains of destroyed buildings.
4The earthquake was centered 23 kilometers east of Nurdagi in the Turkish province of Gaziantep.
5It struck at 4:17 in the morning local time.
6Many aftershocks have hit the area since the first quake.
7In addition, a powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.5 struck nine hours later a little more than 100 kilometers away.
8On the Syrian side, the affected area includes rebel-controlled territory, where buildings have already been weakened from fighting in the country's civil war.
9The opposition-held areas in Syria contain about 4 million people displaced from other parts of the country by the fighting.
10Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said 45 countries have offered to help his country in the rescue efforts.
11He said that over 2,800 buildings in Turkey had collapsed.
12"Because the debris removal efforts are continuing in many buildings in the earthquake zone, we do not know how high the number of dead and injured will rise," Erdogan said.
13A hospital in Turkey collapsed. And in Syria, patients including newborn babies were taken out of medical centers.
14In Turkey, people tried to flee affected areas by car, slowing efforts of emergency teams trying to enter the areas.
15Religious buildings in the affected areas were opened to provide shelter for people unable to return to damaged homes in the cold winter weather.
16In the Syrian rebel-held town of Jandaris in Aleppo province, a pile of concrete, steel rods and clothes lay where a building once stood.
17"There were 12 families under there. Not a single one came out. Not one," said one young man.
18Monday's powerful earthquake was felt as far away as Cairo, Egypt.
19People living in Lebanon's capital, Beirut, were awakened by the quake.
20And in Syria's capital Damascus, locals rushed into the street fearing the collapse of buildings.
21The Syrian White Helmets is a rescue service in rebel-held territory known for pulling people from the ruins of buildings destroyed by air strikes.
22The group said they were in "a race against time to save the lives of those under the rubble".
23Madevi Sun-Suon, is a spokesperson for the U.N. office for coordinating humanitarian affairs in northwestern Syria.
24She said, "We have been dealing with weather events and snowstorms but nothing on the scale of an earthquake of this magnitude. It just adds on to all the layers of suffering," she said.
25Syrian state television showed images of rescue teams searching for survivors as icy rain fell.
26Syrian President Bashar al-Assad held an emergency cabinet meeting to go over the damage and discuss the next steps, his office said.
27Turkey sits on top of an area of major fault lines.
28The country is often shaken by earthquakes.
29About 18,000 people were killed in a similarly powerful earthquake that hit northwest Turkey in 1999.
30I'm Andrew Smith.
1A powerful 7.8 earthquake struck large areas of southern Turkey and northern Syria early Monday. At least 2,300 people were killed. The number of dead and injured will likely increase as rescue workers continue to search through the remains of destroyed buildings. 2The earthquake was centered 23 kilometers east of Nurdagi in the Turkish province of Gaziantep. It struck at 4:17 in the morning local time. 3Many aftershocks have hit the area since the first quake. In addition, a powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.5 struck nine hours later a little more than 100 kilometers away. 4On the Syrian side, the affected area includes rebel-controlled territory, where buildings have already been weakened from fighting in the country's civil war. The opposition-held areas in Syria contain about 4 million people displaced from other parts of the country by the fighting. 5Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said 45 countries have offered to help his country in the rescue efforts. He said that over 2,800 buildings in Turkey had collapsed. 6"Because the debris removal efforts are continuing in many buildings in the earthquake zone, we do not know how high the number of dead and injured will rise," Erdogan said. 7A hospital in Turkey collapsed. And in Syria, patients including newborn babies were taken out of medical centers. 8In Turkey, people tried to flee affected areas by car, slowing efforts of emergency teams trying to enter the areas. Religious buildings in the affected areas were opened to provide shelter for people unable to return to damaged homes in the cold winter weather. 9In the Syrian rebel-held town of Jandaris in Aleppo province, a pile of concrete, steel rods and clothes lay where a building once stood. "There were 12 families under there. Not a single one came out. Not one," said one young man. 10Monday's powerful earthquake was felt as far away as Cairo, Egypt. People living in Lebanon's capital, Beirut, were awakened by the quake. And in Syria's capital Damascus, locals rushed into the street fearing the collapse of buildings. 11The Syrian White Helmets is a rescue service in rebel-held territory known for pulling people from the ruins of buildings destroyed by air strikes. The group said they were in "a race against time to save the lives of those under the rubble". 12Madevi Sun-Suon, is a spokesperson for the U.N. office for coordinating humanitarian affairs in northwestern Syria. She said, "We have been dealing with weather events and snowstorms but nothing on the scale of an earthquake of this magnitude. It just adds on to all the layers of suffering," she said. 13Syrian state television showed images of rescue teams searching for survivors as icy rain fell. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad held an emergency cabinet meeting to go over the damage and discuss the next steps, his office said. 14Turkey sits on top of an area of major fault lines. The country is often shaken by earthquakes. About 18,000 people were killed in a similarly powerful earthquake that hit northwest Turkey in 1999. 15I'm Andrew Smith. 16Andrew Smith adapted this story for VOA Learning English from reporting by The Associated Press and Reuters. 17______________________________________________________________________ 18Words in This Story 19magnitude -n. a measure of the amount of energy released by an earthquake 20displace -v. to move people or objects out of one place and into another 21debris -n. pieces or material from something that has been destroyed 22______________________________________________________________________ 23We want to hear from you. 24We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 25Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.