Tag: earthquake

  • AGAIN, fresh Earthquake hits Turkey

    AGAIN, fresh Earthquake hits Turkey

    A shallow magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck the Turkey-Syria border region after it was devastated earlier this month by temblors that killed tens of thousands of people.

    Monday’s aftershock in Turkey’s Hatay province was at a depth of 2km (1.2 miles), the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre said.

    The quake hit the town of Defne at 8:04pm (17:04 GMT) and was strongly felt in the cities of Antakya and Adana, 200km (300 miles) to the north.

    A second magnitude 5.8 centred in Samandag district of Hatay shook the region several minutes later, Turkey’s disaster management agency said.

    Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency said the temblors were felt in Syria, Jordan, Israel and Egypt.

    Hatay province is on the Mediterranean Sea and the disaster agency said the sea level could rise by 50cm (20 inches), warning people to stay away from the coast.

    Syria’s state news agency, SANA, reported six people were injured in Aleppo from falling debris, while the mayor of Hatay said a number of buildings have collapsed, trapping people inside.

    Al Jazeera’s Assed Baig, reporting from Gaziantep, said there were reports of more structures being destroyed in the region. He added there were many aftershocks that were continuing.

    “There are buildings that are standing but have been damaged. The fear is if there are more aftershocks like this, it could bring down those buildings, threatening lives,” Baig said. “Many people here are very scared.”

    Witnesses said Turkish rescue teams were running around after the latest quakes, checking if people were unharmed.

    Some media outlets in Syria’s Idlib and Aleppo regions badly affected earlier this month reported some buildings collapsed and electricity and internet services were interrupted in parts of the region.

    The news organisations said many people fled their homes and were gathering in open areas.

    The Syrian American Medical Society, which runs hospitals in northern Syria, said it treated a number of patients, including several who suffered heart attacks brought on by fear following the temblor.

  • Earthquake: Remains of Ghanaian footballer, Christian Atsu found under rubbles

    Earthquake: Remains of Ghanaian footballer, Christian Atsu found under rubbles

    The body of former Ghana international Christian Atsu has been found after a devastating earthquake in Turkey, local media reported Saturday, quoting his manager.

    Atsu, 31, was caught up in a 7.8-magnitude quake that rocked Turkey and Syria on February 6, killing more than 43,000 people in both countries.

    There were initial reports the former Chelsea and Newcastle player had been rescued a day after the quake, but these turned out to be false.

    His manager in Turkey, Murat Uzunmehmet, told DHA news agency on Saturday that his body had been found under the rubble in the Turkish southern province of Hatay.

    “We have reached his lifeless body. His belongings are still being removed. His phone was also found,” Uzunmehmet told DHA.

    Ghana’s ministry of foreign affairs said it had “received the unfortunate news”.

    “The elder brother and twin sister of Christian Atsu and an officer of the (Ghanaian) embassy were present at the site when the body was recovered,” the ministry said in a statement.

    Ghana said it was working with the Turkish government to organise the transport of the body back to Atsu’s home country for burial.

    Midfielder Atsu spent four seasons at Chelsea before a permanent transfer to Newcastle in 2017.

    He signed last September for Turkish Super Lig side Hatayspor.

    Chelsea issued a statement declaring, “It is with enormous sadness that Chelsea Football Club receives the news that Christian Atsu is confirmed as one of the many victims of the dreadful earthquake in Turkey and Syria.”

    Newcastle also paid hommage to “a talented player and a special person”.

    The club added, “He will always be fondly remembered by our players, staff and supporters.

    “Initially joining on loan, he played a key role in the Magpies squad that secured the Championship title in 2017 before making a permanent move to help us establish our place back in the Premier League.”

    Search and rescue workers found Atsu’s body where he was staying at Ronesans Residence, a block of high-rise luxury flats that toppled over in Antakya city in Hatay.

    Turkish police arrested the building’s contractor at Istanbul airport last week as he appeared to be heading to Montenegro, according to state news agency Anadolu.

    AFP

  • Death Toll Rises Above 35,000 In Turkey, Syria Earthquake

    Death Toll Rises Above 35,000 In Turkey, Syria Earthquake

    The death toll from a catastrophic earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria climbed above 35,000 on Monday, with search and rescue teams starting to wind down their work.

    Officials and medics said 31,643 people had died in Turkey and 3,581 in Syria from last Monday’s 7.8-magnitude tremor, bringing the confirmed total to 35,224.

    When the death toll stood at 28,000 on Saturday, the United Nations relief chief Martin Griffiths told Sky News he expected the number to “double or more” as chances of finding survivors fade with every passing day.

    Supplies have been slow to arrive in Syria, where years of conflict have ravaged the healthcare system, and parts of the country remain under the control of rebels battling the government of President Bashar al-Assad, which is under Western sanctions.
    A 10-truck UN convoy crossed into northwest Syria via the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, according to an AFP correspondent, carrying shelter kits including plastic sheeting, ropes and screws and nails, as well as blankets, mattresses and carpets.

    Bab al-Hawa is the only point for international aid to reach people in rebel-held areas of Syria after nearly 12 years of civil war, after other crossings were closed under pressure from China and Russia.

    The World Health Organization chief met Assad in Damascus on Sunday and said the Syrian leader had voiced readiness for more border crossings to help bring aid into the rebel-held northwest.

    “He was open to considering additional cross-border access points for this emergency,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.

    Assad said he looked forward to further “efficient cooperation” with the UN agency to improve the shortage in supplies, equipment and medicines, his presidency said.

    UN special envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, was also in Damascus on Sunday carrying a message to set aside politics.

    “We are mobilising funding and we are trying to tell everyone to put politics aside,” he said.

    “This is a time to unite behind a common effort to support the Syrian people.”

    Assad had also thanked the United Arab Emirates for providing “huge relief and humanitarian aid” with pledges of tens of millions of dollars in aid as well.

    But security concerns prompted the suspension of some rescue operations, and dozens of people have been arrested for looting or trying to defraud victims in the aftermath of the quake in Turkey, according to state media.

    An Israeli emergency relief organisation said Sunday it had suspended its earthquake rescue operation in Turkey and returned home because of a “significant” security threat to its staff.

    Miraculous tales of survival still emerged, though experts caution that hopes for finding people alive in the devastation dim with each passing day.

    Almost 160 hours after the quake, several more people were rescued, including an eight-year-old boy in Gaziantep, and a 63-year-old woman in Hatay, state media reported.

    The United Nations has warned that at least 870,000 people urgently need hot meals across Turkey and Syria. In Syria alone, up to 5.3 million people may have been made homeless.

    Almost 26 million people have been affected by the earthquake, the WHO said as it appealed Saturday for $42.8 million to cope with immediate health needs after dozens of hospitals were damaged.

    Turkey’s disaster agency said more than 32,000 people from Turkish organisations are working on search-and-rescue efforts, along with 8,294 international rescuers.

    But, in many areas, rescue teams said they lacked sensors and other advanced search equipment, leaving them reduced to carefully digging through the rubble with shovels or only their hands.

    “If we had this kind of equipment, we would have saved hundreds of lives, if not more,” said Alaa Moubarak, head of civil defence in Jableh, northwest Syria.

    Syria’s transport ministry has said 62 aid planes had landed in Syria this week with more on the way in coming days, in particular from Saudi Arabia.

    After days of grief and anguish, anger in Turkey has been growing over the poor quality of buildings as well as the government’s response to the country’s worst disaster in nearly a century.

    Officials say 12,141 buildings were either destroyed or seriously damaged in the earthquake.

    Three people were put behind bars by Sunday and seven more have been detained — including two developers who were trying to relocate to the former Soviet republic of Georgia.

    Officials and medics said 29,605 people had died in Turkey and 3,581 in Syria from last Monday’s 7.8-magnitude quake, bringing the confirmed total to 33,186.

  • Earthquake: US-based Pakistani ‘donates $30m’ for Turkey-Syria victims

    Earthquake: US-based Pakistani ‘donates $30m’ for Turkey-Syria victims

     
    A Pakistani, residing in the United States, anonymously “donated $30 million to the Turkish embassy” for the victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria after the natural calamity wreaked havoc claiming the lives of thousands of people and damaging infrastructure in the two countries.

    The catastrophic 7.8 magnitude earthquake in the wee hours of Monday morning jolted parts of Turkey and Syria, as volunteers and governments struggle to ensure relief and rescue to those in need with little hope of finding survivors.

    Donation by the Pakistani, which has been reported by Turkish media, was also confirmed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

    The premier, taking to Twitter, wrote: “Deeply moved by the example of an anonymous Pakistani who walked into Turkish embassy in the US and donated $30 million for earthquake victims in Türkiye and Syria.”

    “These are such glorious acts of philanthropy that enable humanity to triumph over the seemingly insurmountable odds,” he added.

    In a video shared on Twitter, TRT World journalist Yousuf Erim also appreciated the move and said: “Individuals, a Pakistani businessman walked into the Turkish embassy in the United States and anonymously donated $30 million by himself. We don’t know who he is. His identity has not been revealed.”

    Mustafa Tanyeri — who is the editor-in-chief of The Election Post — said Turkey’s Ambassador to Washington Murat Mercan said that a Pakistani businessman alone contributed $30 million to the aid campaign launched in the US.

    This was also reported by TRT World’s reporter Jaffar Hasnain.

    PM Shehbaz on Friday announced that the federal government has allocated Rs10 billion to help Turkey’s earthquake relief efforts, saying that Pakistan will continue to assist the calamity-hit country every day.

    “I believe that the people of Turkey and Syria will come out of this difficulty,” he said, adding that Pakistan assured Turkey of assistance the day when this tragedy took place.

    “A Pakistan Army team was sent the day when the earthquake hit Turkey and the dispatching of the relief goods has begun,” he continued.

    He said that goods weighing 100 tonnes are being sent to Turkey in a truck.

    The prime minister urged the people, welfare organisations and businessmen to take part in the fund collection drive. He also requested the chief ministers to help in this regard.

    “A committee has been formed to send funds to Turkey. 1,486 tonnes of relief goods are being sent to Turkey and Syria,” he added.

    The premier said that 13 centres have been established in Pakistan for the collection of funds, adding that donations will also be collected in educational institutions across the country.

    Meanwhile, International aid was also trickling into parts of Turkey and Syria on Saturday where rescuers toiled to pull children from rubble in quake-hit areas.

    A winter freeze in the affected areas has hurt rescue efforts and compounded the suffering of millions of people, many in desperate need of aid.

    At least 870,000 people urgently needed food in the two countries after the quake, which has left up to 5.3 million people homeless in Syria alone, the UN warned.

    Aftershocks following Monday’s 7.8-magnitude tremor have added to the death toll and further upended the lives of survivors.

    The United Nations World Food Programme appealed for $77 million to provide food rations to at least 590,000 newly displaced people in Turkey and 284,000 in Syria.

    Of those, 545,000 were internally displaced people and 45,000 were refugees, it said.

  • FG Sympathizes with Turkey Over Earthquake Disaster

    FG Sympathizes with Turkey Over Earthquake Disaster

    By Joyce Remi-Babayeju

    The The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq on behalf of the Government of Nigeria has commiserated with the Turkish Government over the earthquake disaster which occurred in the country on Monday.

    Farouq who paid a condolence visit to the Turkish Ambassador to Nigeria H. E. Hidayet Bayraktar on Friday described the earthquake and its aftermath as devastating and prayed for God’s strength in their trying time.

    “We received with sadness, the news of the devastating earthquake in your country. On behalf of the Federal government, we are here to commiserate with you in this trying time. It is a natural disaster and unforeseen. We pray that families of the victims affected by the earthquake and especially those of the dead will find strength to bear the loss. This is very sad and devastating.’

    “The President , His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari sends his condolences and prayers at this time. Once again, accept our condolences as we pray for the peaceful repose of lives lost in the disaster.”

    Ambassador of Turkey to Nigeria, His Excellency Hidayet Bayraktar, appreciated the government of Nigeria and the Minister for their condolences and prayed for continued peaceful collaborations between the two countries.

    The Minister was accompanied on the cindolence visit by the Permanent Secretary, Dr Nasir Sani Gwarzo and other management staff on the ministry.

  • Earthquake: Death Toll Exceeds 7,800 in Turkey, Syria

    Earthquake: Death Toll Exceeds 7,800 in Turkey, Syria

    Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday declared a state of emergency in 10 provinces devastated by two earthquakes that killed more than 7,800 people and left a trail of destruction across a wide area of southern Turkey and neighbouring Syria.

    A day after the quakes hit, rescuers working in harsh conditions struggled to dig people out of the rubble of collapsed buildings.

    As the scale of the disaster became ever more apparent, the death toll looked likely to rise considerably. One United Nations official said it was feared thousands of children may have been killed.

    And residents in several damaged Turkish cities voiced anger and despair at what they said was a slow and inadequate response from the authorities to the deadliest earthquake to hit Turkey since 1999.

    “There is not even a single person here. We are under the snow, without a home, without anything,” said Murat Alinak, whose home in Malatya had collapsed and whose relatives are missing. “What shall I do, where can I go?”

    Monday’s magnitude 7.8 quake, followed hours later by a second one almost as powerful, toppled thousands of buildings including hospitals, schools and apartment blocks.

    Tens of thousands of people were injured or left homeless in cities in Turkey and northern Syria.

    Winter weather has hampered rescue and relief efforts and made the plight of the homeless even more miserable. Some areas were without fuel and electricity.

    Aid officials voiced particular concern about the situation in Syria, already afflicted by a humanitarian crisis after nearly 12 years of civil war.

    The death toll in Turkey rose to 5,434, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said, adding that 31,777 people were injured. In Syria, the toll was at least 1,832, according to the government and a rescue service in the insurgent-held northwest.

    Erdogan on Tuesday declared 10 Turkish provinces a disaster zone and imposed a state of emergency there for three months. This will permit the government to bypass parliament in enacting new laws and to limit or suspend rights and freedoms.

    The government will open up hotels in the tourism hub of Antalya to temporarily house people impacted by the quakes, said Erdogan, who faces a national election in three months’ time. (Reuters)

  • Death Toll Rise to Over 4,300 As Tragic Earthquake Rocks Turkey, Syria

    Death Toll Rise to Over 4,300 As Tragic Earthquake Rocks Turkey, Syria

    Rescuers in Turkey and Syria worked overnight and in near-freezing temperatures to comb through rubble in search of survivors after a powerful earthquake and aftershocks collapsed thousands of buildings, killed more than 4,300 people and raised the specter of a new humanitarian disaster in an area of the world already racked by war, a refugee crisis and deep economic troubles.

    The initial magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit at 4:17 a.m. local time on Monday, according to the United States Geological Survey, and was also felt in Cyprus, Egypt, Israel and Lebanon. Hundreds of aftershocks, including an unusually strong 7.5 magnitude tremor, struck Turkey in the aftermath, the U.S.G.S. said. The series of shocks was the deadliest to hit the country in more than 20 years.

    On both sides of the border, residents jolted out of sleep by the pre-dawn quake rushed outside on a cold, rainy and snowy winter night, as buildings were flattened and strong aftershocks continued.

    Rescue workers and residents in multiple cities searched for survivors, working through tangles of metal and giant piles of concrete. A hospital in Turkey collapsed and patients, including newborns, were evacuated from a handful of facilities in Syria.

    In the Turkish city of Adana, one resident said three buildings near his home collapsed. “I don’t have the strength anymore,” one survivor could be heard calling out from beneath the rubble as rescue workers tried to reach him, said the resident, journalism student Muhammet Fatih Yavus.

    Farther east in Diyarbakir, cranes and rescue teams rushed people on stretchers out of a mountain of pancaked concrete floors that was once an apartment building.

    The quake, felt as far away as Cairo, was centered north of Gaziantep, a Turkish provincial capital.

    It struck a region that has been shaped on both sides of the border by more than a decade of civil war in Syria. On the Syrian side, the swath affected is divided between government-held territory and the country’s last opposition-held enclave, which is surrounded by Russian-backed government forces. Turkey, meanwhile, is home to millions of refugees from that conflict.

    The opposition-held regions in Syria are packed with some 4 million people displaced from other parts of the country by the fighting. Many of them live in buildings that are already wrecked from past bombardments. Hundreds of families remained trapped in rubble, the opposition emergency organization, called the White Helmets, said in a statement.

    Strained health facilities and hospitals were quickly filled with wounded, rescue workers said. Others had to be emptied, including a maternity hospital, according to the SAMS medical organization.

    “We fear that the deaths are in the hundreds,” Muheeb Qaddour, a doctor, said by phone from the town of Atmeh.

    Turkey sits on top of major fault lines and is frequently shaken by earthquakes. Some 18,000 were killed in powerful earthquakes that hit northwest Turkey in 1999. The U.S. Geological Survey measured Monday’s quake at 7.8. At least 20 aftershocks followed, some hours later during daylight, the strongest measuring 6.6, Turkish authorities said.

    Buildings were reported collapsed in a wide area extending from Syria’s cities of Aleppo and Hama to Turkey’s Diyarbakir, more than 330 kilometers (200 miles) to the northeast. Nearly 900 buildings were destroyed in Turkey’s Gaziantep and Kahramanmaras provinces, said Vice President Fuat Oktay. A hospital collapsed in the Mediterranean coastal city of Iskanderoun, but casualties were not immediately known, he said.

    “Unfortunately, at the same time, we are also struggling with extremely severe weather conditions,” Oktay told reporters. Nearly 2,800 search and rescue teams have been deployed in the disaster-stricken areas, he said.

    “We hope that we will get through this disaster together as soon as possible and with the least damage,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote on Twitter.

    Countries from Taiwan to Russia to Germany offered to send help, whether medical supplies, search teams or money.

    In Turkey, people trying to leave the quake-stricken regions caused traffic jams, hampering efforts of emergency teams trying to reach the affected areas. Authorities urged residents not to take to the roads. Mosques around the region were being opened up as a shelter for people unable to return to damaged homes amid temperatures that hovered around freezing.

    The quake heavily damaged Gaziantep’s most famed landmark, its historic castle perched atop a hill in the center of the city. Parts of the fortresses’ walls and watch towers were leveled and other parts heavily damaged, images from the city showed.

    In Diyarbakir, hundreds of rescue workers and civilians formed lines across a mountain of wreckage, passing down broken concrete pieces, household belongings and other debris as they searched for trapped survivors while excavators dug through the rubble below.

  • Expert warns of imminent earthquake in Delta communities

    Expert warns of imminent earthquake in Delta communities

    By Isaac Kertyo

    A civil engineer and erstwhile Special Assistant (Technical) Delta State Ministry of Water Resources Development, Sylvester Oru, has raised the alarm that that earthquake may occur in Umutu and Umuaja communities in Ukwuani Local Government Area of Delta State due to ongoing mechanical dredging activity in the area.

    Oru, who stated this in an interview with newsmen in Asaba, after visiting the dredging sites, said the two communities were sitting on a time bomb, adding that the mechanical dredging of the source of any river was delicate and should not be contemplated by any group or individual because of the effect on the host community.

    He said the ongoing mechanical dredging has the capacity of destroying the aesthetic value and the tourism potentials of the twin communities that has been driven by the state government.

    According to him, “the river sources, the Akuku-Agbor Platoon, Idemili, Igbudu-Aka platoons among others formed the recharge basin that receives the rainwater into the ground that eventually finds its weakest point of discharge at Umuaja community, the source of River Ethiope.

    “This issue is bothering on River Ethiope source, it is also an environmental issue but we are concerned more on how it affects the hydrogeology, which is really critical.

    “The river began as an artisan and natural spring water coming from a source that flows down the slope like a river to connect with the Atlantic Ocean.

    “The water is collected as underground reservoirs on the bedrock of thick layers of clay and stones that cannot allow the water penetrate below it, gave birth to River Ethiope, Ughelli River, Ossisa River and others.

    “Now, when the dredgers move to this location which is the source of the river, and as they mine these sands and stones, the base is been washed off.

    “If they begin to do dredging there, they will displace the sand formation from the subsurface at very great pressure, this will lead to the demolition of the artisan spring and those living in the areas around Umutu and Umuaja are sitting on a time bomb.

    “This is because the soil that rests on the impervious formation have been sucked away by the dredgers, what we call subsidence will occur as the dredgers suck away the weak sand from beneath the community land formation.

    “My advice is that the dredging work must be stopped immediately. Dredging the source of the river is not acceptable because of the danger it poses to the people and the ecology itself.”

    Some of the residents who spoke to newsmen also lamented the devastating impact of the dredging on their daily activities while calling on the government to come to their aid and stop the dredgers.

    Also, Mrs Angela Chukwudi, said; “as we speak, those who do not have boreholes still drink the water and use it in their homes.

    “Besides, because the river turns blue during dredging hours, most people believed that it has contaminated the aquatic lives, therefore, they no longer eat fish killed from the river for fear of contamination and death.

    “In fact, we need the government to come to this community to provide us with good drinking water, electricity and give us financial support for our business and to engage the youths in other meaningful projects to take them out of the dredging activities”.

  • Earthquake with over 3.3 magnitude hits Southern England

    An earthquake measuring 3.3 magnitude on the Richter scale has struck southern England. 

    ?Earthquake with 3.3 magnitude hits Southern England?

    According to the British Geological Survey (BGS) quake maps, the epicentre was in 3km northwest of Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, and recorded at a depth of 10km. The tremor caused houses to shake as far away as London, Milton Keynes, Aylesbury, and High Wycombe. 

    Residents reported feeling the tremors at 9.45am in parts of London.

    One person on the EMSC site wrote: “It felt horrible. The whole house was shaking as if something huge and very heavy hit the roof or my neighbours house (they’re end of terrace). I never suspected we’d have it in here.”

    Another person wrote: “I felt it very clearly. The first wave shook the house a bit and then some little vibrations during 5 seconds.. but my wife, at home with me, did not feel anything.. Nice experience!”

    The British Geological Survey confirmed it is investigating reports of an earthquake which they described as a ‘large explosion’.

    Its tweet said: “Reports include ‘like a convey of HGVs driving past my front door at great speed’, ‘the house had one dramatic shake’, ‘felt like whole house was shaking’ & ‘it was like a large explosion’.”

    The size of the tremor was initially thought to be larger but has since been downgraded to 3.3 magnitude from initial reports it was a 3.9. 

  • EU hosts donors’ conference for Albania after devastating earthquake

    Brussels, Feb. 17, 2020 The European Union is hosting a donors’ conference in Brussels to help Albania rebuild areas devastated in a recent earthquake, a media report said on Monday.

    The Nov. 26 quake brought down entire buildings on Albania’s Adriatic coast, killing 51 people and injuring hundreds.

    Albania, which is among Europe’s poorest countries, has estimated direct damages caused by the catastrophe at 985 million Euros ($1.1 billion), with more expected as a result of slower economic growth.

    At the “Together for Albania” conference in Brussels, the country’s post-disaster needs will be presented before the pledging session.

    “Among those attending are representatives of the EU and its member states, the Western Balkan partners and international organisations as well as international financial institutions, including the United Nations and the World Bank,’’ the European Commission said.

    Apart from reconstruction, Albania has been urged to improve its construction regulations, as many of the collapsed buildings, including coastal hotels, were built without regard for safety.

    The EU activated its Civil Protection Mechanism at the request of Albania, which was recently blocked from starting EU membership talks.

    In December, the EU already approved a 15-million-euro grant to Albania for reconstruction efforts.