DIRECT. 7.8 magnitude earthquake kills at least 500 in Turkey and Syria, according to initial reports

Find here all of our live #SEISM

08:23 : The toll of the violent earthquake that struck southeastern Turkey has risen to 284 dead and at least 2,320 injured in this country alone, according to data provided by Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay. According to him, more than a thousand buildings have completely collapsed, which raises fears of even heavier tolls.

08:17 : The balance sheet, still provisional, rises to at least 284 dead in Turkey, announce the authorities.

08:16 : Dozens of people were killed in the rebel areas of northern Syria during the earthquake and hundreds more are injured or still under the rubble, said rescuers. The death toll in Syria so far stands at 237 dead and 639 injuredaccording to the Syrian Ministry of Health.

06:59 : The death toll in Syria from the earthquake, whose epicenter is in Turkey, has risen 111 dead and 516 injured, according to the Syrian Ministry of Health. The 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit southern Turkey and neighboring Syria at dawn.

06:59 : In Syria, the toll of victims of the earthquake rises to 111 dead, announce the authorities.

06:31 : Building collapses during the powerful earthquake in #Turkey. https://t.co/HvP4gLKZPv

06:31 : The tremors, felt across the southeast of the country, were also felt in Lebanon and Cyprus, according to AFP correspondents. Videos posted on social networks show destroyed buildings in several cities in the south-east of the country.

06:46 : At least 53 people have also died in Turkey according to an AFP tally based on official sources. According to the American seismological institute USGS, the earthquake of magnitude 7.8 took place at 4:17 a.m. local time (2:17 a.m. in Paris). The epicenter is in the district of Pazarcik, in the province of Kahramanmaras (southeast). This earthquake is the largest in Turkey since the earthquake of August 17, 1999, which caused the death of 17,000 people.

06:21 : At least 50 people were killed in the collapse of buildings following the violent earthquake which struck Syria at dawn and whose epicenter is in Turkey, according to state media and hospitals. According to an official from the Ministry of Health, quoted by the official Sana agency, 42 dead and more than 200 injured have been recorded in Aleppo, the second Syrian city in the north of the country, in Hama (center) and in Latakia, on the Mediterranean coast. The balance sheet could still increase, according to this official.

(Omer Alven / ANADOLU AGENCY / Anadolu Agency via AFP)

source site-29