Two earthquakes with magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 have struck Turkey and Syria in the space of 10 hours, causing widespread devastation and claiming at least 1500 lives
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A 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit close to the Turkish city of Gaziantep at 1:17 am UTC on 6 February. This was followed by a 7.5-magnitude quake around 130 kilometres north of Gaziantep at 10:24 am, according to theThe quakes have caused chaos across Turkey and Syria, burying people under collapsed buildings and damaging critical infrastructure such as roads, power lines and sewage systems.
Scientists say the second tremor is likely to have been a particularly sizeable aftershock, triggered by the initial lurch in tectonic plates that caused the first earthquake. “Once it jerks in one place, it’s like a chain reaction, it starts jerking in another places,” says David Rothery at the Open University, UK.
The disaster is the most severe in Turkey since a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck the city of Erzincan in 1939, killing 33,000 people. In a press conference, Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan said “everyone is putting their heart and soul” into rescue efforts.