A powerful earthquake has struck in south-eastern Turkey, near the Syrian border, killing more than 1,000 people as they slept and trapping many others.
The US Geological Survey said the 7.8 magnitude tremor struck at 04:17 local time (01:17 GMT) at a depth of 17.9km (11 miles) near the city of Gaziantep.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the death toll there was now 912.
In Syria, more than 470 people died, with victims in both government-controlled and rebel-held areas.
The Syrian health ministry said 326 people had died in the provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama and Tartus.
The White Helmets rescue group, which operates in rebel-controlled areas of north-western Syria, said on Twitter that at least 147 people had died there.
There are fears the number of deaths will rise sharply in the coming hours.
Many buildings have collapsed and rescue teams have been deployed to search for survivors under huge piles of rubble.
The epicentre of the quake was in the Pazarcik district of Kahramanmaras province. Turkish Interior Minister Suleymon Soylu said 10 cities were affected: Gaziantep, Kahramanmaras, Hatay, Osmaniye, Adiyaman, Malatya, Sanliurfa, Adana, Diyarbakir and Kilis.
The tremor was also felt in Lebanon and Cyprus.
“I was writing something and just all of a sudden the entire building started shaking and yes I didn’t really know what to feel,” Mohamad El Chamaa, a student in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, told the BBC.
“I was right next to the window so I was just scared that they might shatter. It went on for four-five minutes and it was pretty horrific. It was mind-blowing,” he said.
Rushdi Abualouf, a BBC producer in the Gaza Strip, said there was about 45 seconds of shaking in the house he was staying in.
Turkish seismologists estimated the strength of the quake to be 7.7 magnitude. They said that a second tremor hit the region just minutes later.
Turkey lies in one of the world’s most active earthquake zones.
In 1999, more than 17,000 people were killed after a powerful tremor rocked the north-west of the country.
This is the Moment a Building in Türkiye's Sanliurfa Collapsed after a major 7. 4 Magnitude Earthquake struck Türkiye.
May Allah Ease for everyone 🤲😭 #Turkey #TurkeyEarthquake #Syria #earthquake #زلزال #زلزال_تركيا_سوريا #زلزال_ترکیا #زلزال_سوريا #Pakistan pic.twitter.com/mMvv37hIYL
— Sara 🇵🇸 (@saraanwar45) February 6, 2023
Buildings destroyed and hundreds of people are feared to have died after an earthquake in Türkiye.
May Allah protect them and have mercy on us. pic.twitter.com/oIaO9qFyuy
— • (@Alhamdhulillaah) February 6, 2023
A Powerful 7.8 magnitude #earthquake hits Turkey.
The moment when rescue 🛟 team rescued a child alone without his family. In Türkiye's southern provinces#Turkey #deprem #Gaziantep #nurdagi #earthquakeinturkey pic.twitter.com/vmrnBstsJm
— Babar Bhatti 🇵🇰 (@Babarbhatti22) February 6, 2023
A new #earthquake of the magnitude 7.8 occurred in #Turkey News Reporter Running and Screaming #TurkeyEarthquake pic.twitter.com/5sRtxaBB3Q
— Amit Sahu🇮🇳 (@amitsahujourno) February 6, 2023
https://twitter.com/bigevachelsea/status/1622579455397883906?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1622579455397883906%7Ctwgr%5E9338900d183bea71611e7db979b936cffda8a9eb%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ghanaweb.com%2FGhanaHomePage%2FNewsArchive%2FHorrific-videos-from-Turkey-s-massive-7-7-magnitude-earthquake-that-has-killed-over-1-800-1709030
More than 1,400 people were killed and thousands injured when an earthquake struck central Turkey and northwest Syria, collapsing apartment blocks and heaping more destruction on Syrian cities already devastated by years of war https://t.co/eHtylQWtaA 1/5 pic.twitter.com/XF9SPEHRin
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 6, 2023
There was another #earthquake in #Malatya #Türkiye🇹🇷 and the damaged buildings were demolished in live. #deprem #DEPREMOLDU #earthquakeinturkey #earthquaketurkey pic.twitter.com/BNKrGehOIK
— Turkic World (@TurkicWorld_Az) February 6, 2023
In these difficult moments for the peoples hit by the earthquake, in #Türkiye and #Syria, we should all pray that there will be as few human victims as possible.
We pray for them…!#PrayForTurkey pic.twitter.com/jyavyhY2zI— Argjend Zejnaj (@a_zejnaj) February 6, 2023
Apocalyptic scenes from #Turkey.
pic.twitter.com/qDFbcluZjW— Ahmer Khan (@ahmermkhan) February 6, 2023
aerial images from #Turkey post the massive #Earthquake today
Just heartbreaking pic.twitter.com/WQBbwnLBF8
— Abier (@abierkhatib) February 6, 2023
BREAKING: Multiple earthquakes have hit Turkey and Syria, including one that registered a 7.8 magnitude. The destruction is horrifying. Over 1600 lives lost and many more are missing. My heart goes out to everyone who just experienced this nightmare! pic.twitter.com/H2o8UrdnGe
— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) February 6, 2023
At least 18 aftershocks with magnitude of up to 5.7 recorded after second #TurkeyEarthquake (RIA)
Aftershocks of Monday’s quakes will be felt throughout this month, seismologists believe.
🎥 of Children miraculously pulled out alive from rubble in city of Kahramanmarash #Turkey pic.twitter.com/IgEGX3gZaV
— Megh Updates 🚨™ (@MeghUpdates) February 6, 2023
Building collapsed by #earthquake#Deprem #Turkey pic.twitter.com/8EN14LUpND
— RED SALUTE (@Gadhwara27) February 6, 2023
A little girl was pulled out from under the concrete in the earthquake. Urfa Turkey#INDNews Christian Atsu #GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/qXYaYJQPrw
— TIG Post (@tigpost_) February 6, 2023
⚠️ Apocalyptic video from Turkey shows nearly all buildings in a city crumbled following massive earthquakes.
Death toll has reached 1,600; expected to rise significantly. pic.twitter.com/SiVSWRyCdP
— Upward News (@UpwardNewsHQ) February 6, 2023
Inside visuals of Turkey Famous Hotel …#Turkey #TurkeyEarthquake #Turkiye #Turkish #TurkeyQuake #turkeyhelp #turkifsa #Turquia #Syria #syriaearthquake #Syria_earthquake #Syrian pic.twitter.com/QkRCXAYfbz
— Headlinesnow (@Headlineznow) February 6, 2023
