More than 5,000 people have been killed with tens of thousands injured across Turkey and Syria after a magnitude-7.8 earthquake and powerful aftershocks struck. The first earthquake hit at 4:17am (01:17 GMT) and was centred in Turkey’s Pazarcik district of Kahramanmaras province. Less than 12 hours later, a second 7.6-magnitude tremor rocked the same region.

 

Turkish authorities say some 13.5 million people were affected in an area spanning roughly 450 km from Adana in the west to Diyarbakir in the east, and 300 km from Malatya in the north to Hatay. Syrian authorities have reported deaths as far south as Hama, some 250 km from the epicenter.

World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says this is now a race against time and every minute, every hour that passes, diminishes the chances of finding survivors alive.

 

GUEST  Yusuf Erim,  Editor -in-chief at TRT world (Turkish Radio and Television)]