Over 44,370 dead from powerful twin earthquakes in southern Türkiye

Turkey

Magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes struck Pazarcik and Elbistan districts of Kahramanmaras province on Feb. 6.

At least 44,374 people have died in two strong earthquakes that jolted southern Türkiye on Feb. 6, an official from the nation’s disaster agency said on Sunday.

The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes were centered in Kahramanmaras and struck 10 other provinces – Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Elazig, Hatay, Gaziantep, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa. More than 13 million people have been affected by the devastating quakes.

Several countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon, also felt the strong tremors that struck Türkiye in the space of less than 10 hours.

Yunus Sezer, head of the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD), said search and rescue work has been completed in nearly 21,000 buildings, adding: "We are now fully focused on debris removal."

At least 9,900 aftershocks have been recorded since the two major quakes, Sezer said.

More than 230,000 personnel are currently working in the field, he added.

Condolences have poured in from around the world expressing solidarity with Türkiye, with many countries sending rescue teams and aid.

"1,180 personnel from the international search and rescue teams are still trying to support humanitarian aid activities," Sezer said.

Humanitarian aid and tents were sent to the region with 116 helicopters and 78 aircraft, he added.

"We send more than 10,000 tents to the regions on average daily, and we deliver them to the most remote corners. We currently have 287 tent cities in the region," Sezer said.

More than 1.5 million affected people are hosted in tents, container cities and public guesthouses in the disaster areas, Sezer said, adding 563,000 people were evacuated outside the disaster area.