Rescuers finding survivors of a devastating earthquake in southeast Turkey are battling heavy rain.
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In the early hours of Monday, an earthquake struck Turkey that left 48,000 people killed and 15000 injured. According to a Survey, the 7.8 magnitude tremor struck at 01:17 GMT near the city of Gaziantep.
However, Turkey is one of the world’s most active earthquake zones. In 1939, the first tragedy happened, killing 33,000 people, and in 1999 another quake occurred, killing 17,000 people.
And this time, it was one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded in Turkey. It took around two minutes for the shaking to stop, survivors said. Rescuers stepped up to rescue survivors from this devastating earthquake.
But the real battle for rescuers is to search for victims in heavy rain.
The Aftermath of the Turkey Earthquake
During the first daylight on Tuesday, traffic was at a standstill in the Turkish city of Maras, close to the earthquake’s epicentre. It is considered one of the worst-affected areas.
The wet road was illuminated by the glowing red brake lights, and cars crawled forward on the road. Some rescuers tried hard to reach the southern part of Turkey to assess the damage and provide vital help as fast as possible.
During an interview with BBC, the rescue team said that one of their group reached their way to the city with a van loaded with specialist equipment and supplies. They began looking for the victims, but they were not aware of the devastation caused by the quake.
Turkey’s Disaster Management Authority stated that they rescued almost 8,000 people from more than 4700 destroyed buildings. In some areas, rescuers even used their hands to dig in search of survivors.
When rescuers reached the Turkish city of Osmaniye near the earthquake’s epicentre, pouring rain hampered them through the rubble. Due to heavy rain, there was a power cut in the city, which was the biggest hurdle for them to do their job.
Support to Help the Rescue Efforts
Almost from all around the world, countries are sending support, including specialist equipment, team and sniffer dogs. President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip, said 45 countries came forward to support them.
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made an international appeal for many of the families hit by the disaster. He demanded humanitarian aid in areas where access is a challenge.
Some rescuers from the Netherlands and the European Union are already on their way to Turkey. The UK government claimed they would send 76 specialists, equipment and rescue dogs.
The US, Germany, Israel and France are also coming forward to offer support.
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