Turkey earthquake

The death toll of the earthquake that hit Turkey and parts of Syria on Monday has crossed the 5000 mark with thousands of other civilians left injured.

Turkey was hit by three powerful earthquakes within 24 hours; On Monday, an earthquake of magnitude 7.8 centered in the Pazarcik district jolted Kahramanmaras and hit several provinces, including Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, Adana, Adiyaman, Malatya, Osmaniye, Hatay, and Kilis.

When the first massive 7.8-magnitude quake struck, families had already retired for the night. The freezing temperatures also made a bad situation worse for the victims.

Rescue operations are still underway but there are fears that the death toll may spike in the coming days.

In Syria at least 1,602 people have been killed by the earthquake.

Earthquake likely to affect over 23M people, WHO warns

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that up to 23 million people could be affected by the earthquake that has hit Turkey and Syria.

“Event overview maps show that potentially 23 million people are exposed, including around five million vulnerable populations,” the World Health Organization’s senior emergencies officer Adelheid Marschang said.

“Civilian infrastructure and potentially health infrastructure have been damaged across the affected region, mainly in Turkey and northwest Syria,” she said.