Syria

‘Disaster of the Century': Earthquake Death Toll Passes 20,000

“If people haven’t died from being stuck under the rubble, they’ll die from the cold,” said Ahmet Tokgoz

NBC Universal, Inc. Thousands of buildings have collapsed across Turkey after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit the region Monday, killing thousands.

Rescue workers made a final push Thursday to find survivors of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria that rendered many communities unrecognizable to their inhabitants and led the Turkish president to declare it “the disaster of the century." The death toll topped 20,000.

The earthquake affected an area that is home to 13.5 million people in Turkey and an unknown number in Syria and stretches farther than the distance from London to Paris or Boston to Philadelphia. Even with an army of people taking part in the rescue effort, crews had to pick and choose where to help.

The scene from the air showed the scope of devastation, with entire neighborhoods of high-rises reduced to twisted metal, pulverized concrete and exposed wires.

In Adiyaman, Associated Press journalists saw someone plead with rescuers to look through the rubble of a building where relatives were trapped. They refused, saying no one was alive there and that they had to prioritize areas with possible survivors.

A man who gave his name only as Ahmet out of fear of government retribution later asked the AP: “How can I go home and sleep? My brother is there. He may still be alive.”

The death toll from Monday’s 7.8 magnitude catastrophe rose to nearly 21,000, eclipsing the more than 18,400 who died in the 2011 earthquake off Fukushima, Japan, that triggered a tsunami and the estimated 18,000 people who died in a temblor near the Turkish capital, Istanbul, in 1999.

The new figure, which is certain to rise, included over 17,600 people in Turkey and more than 3,300 in civil war-torn Syria. Tens of thousands were also injured.

Even though experts say people could survive for a week or more, the chances of finding survivors in the freezing temperatures were dimming. As emergency crews and panicked relatives dug through the rubble — and occasionally found people alive — the focus began to shift to demolishing dangerously unstable structures.

The DHA news agency broadcast the rescue of a 10-year-old in Antakya. The agency said medics had to amputate an arm to free her and that her parents and three siblings had died. A 17-year-old girl emerged alive in Adıyaman, and a 20-year-old was found in Kahramanmaras by rescuers who shouted “God is great.”

In Nurdagi, a city of around 40,000 nestled between snowy mountains some 35 miles (56 kilometers) from the quake's epicenter, vast swaths of the city were leveled, with scarcely a building unaffected. Even those that did not collapse were heavily damaged, making them unsafe.

Throngs of onlookers, mostly family members of people trapped inside, watched as heavy machines ripped at one building that had collapsed, its floors pancaked together with little more than a few inches in between.

Mehmet Yilmaz, 67, watched from a distance as bulldozers and other demolition equipment began to bring down what remained of the building where six of his family members had been trapped, including four children.

He estimated that about 80 people were still beneath the rubble and doubted that anyone would be found alive.

“There’s no hope. We can’t give up our hope in God, but they entered the building with listening devices and dogs, and there was nothing,” Yilmaz said.

Mehmet Nasir Dusan, 67, sat watching as the remnants of the nine-story building were brought down in billowing clouds of dust. He said he held no hope of reuniting with his five family members trapped under the debris.

Still, he said, recovering their bodies would bring some small comfort.

“We’re not leaving this site until we can recover their bodies, even if it takes 10 days,” Dusan said. “My family is destroyed now.”

In Kahramanmaras, the city closest to the epicenter, a sports hall the size of a basketball court served as a makeshift morgue to accommodate and identify bodies.

On the floor lay dozens of bodies wrapped in blankets or black shrouds. At least one appeared to be that of a 5- or 6-year-old.

At the entrance, a man wept over a black body bag that lay next to another in the bed of a small truck. “I’m 70 years old. God should have taken me, not my son,” he cried.

Workers continued to conduct rescue operations in Kahramanmaras, but it was clear that many who were trapped in collapsed buildings had already died. One rescue worker was heard saying that his psychological state was declining and that the smell of death was becoming too much to bear.

In northwestern Syria, the first U.N. aid trucks since the quake to enter the rebel-controlled area from Turkey arrived, underscoring the difficulty of getting help to people there. In the Turkish city of Antakya, dozens scrambled for aid in front of a truck distributing children's coats and other supplies.

One survivor, Ahmet Tokgoz, called for the government to evacuate people from the region. Many of those who have lost their homes found shelter in tents, stadiums and other temporary accommodation, but others have slept outdoors.

“Especially in this cold, it is not possible to live here,” he said. “If people haven’t died from being stuck under the rubble, they’ll die from the cold.”

The winter weather and damage to roads and airports have hampered the response. Some in Turkey have complained that the government was slow to respond — a perception that could hurt Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a time when he faces a tough battle for reelection in May.

“As you know, the earthquake hit an area of 500-kilometer (311-mile) diameter where 13.5 million of our people live, and that made our job difficult,” Erdogan said Thursday.

In the Turkish town of Elbistan, rescuers stood atop the rubble from a collapsed home and pulled out an elderly woman.

Rescue teams urged quiet in the hopes of hearing stifled pleas for help, and the Syrian paramedic group known as the White Helmets noted that “every second could mean saving a life.”

But more and more often, the teams pulled out dead bodies. In Antakya, more than 100 bodies were awaiting identification in a makeshift morgue outside a hospital.

With the chances of finding people alive dwindling, crews in some places began demolishing buildings. Authorities called off search-and-rescue operations in the cities of Kilis and Sanliurfa, where destruction was not as severe as in other areas. Vice President Fuat Oktay said rescue work was mostly complete in Diyarbakir, Adana and Osmaniye.

Across the border in Syria, assistance trickled in. The U.N. is authorized to deliver aid through only one border crossing, and road damage has prevented that thus far. U.N. officials pleaded for humanitarian concerns to take precedence over wartime politics.

It wasn't clear how many people were still unaccounted for in both countries.

Turkey’s disaster-management agency said more than 110,000 rescue personnel were now taking part in the effort and more than 5,500 vehicles, including tractors, cranes, bulldozers and excavators had been shipped. The Foreign Ministry said 95 countries have offered help.

Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP via Getty Images
Kahraman, 62, walks past a row of collapsed buildings after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit the Hatay province in southern Turkey, Antakya, Feb. 21, 2023. The 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck on February 20, two weeks after a 7.8-magnitude quake hit near Gaziantep, Turkey, in the early hours of February 6.
Murat Saka/dia images via Getty Images
Search and rescue teams look respond to a destroyed building in an Uzbek village damaged by the earthquake, Feb. 21, 2023, in Hatay, Turkey. The death toll from a catastrophic earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria has topped 46,000, with search and rescue teams starting to wind down their work.
Murat Saka/dia images via Getty Images
A young child stand in destroyed street of an Uzbek village damaged by earthquakes, Feb. 21, 2023 in Hatay, Turkey. The death toll from a catastrophic earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria has topped 46,000, with search and rescue teams starting to wind down their work.
Ibrahim Oner/SOPA via Getty Images
Soldiers examine a newborn baby rescued from the rubble in Hatay, Turkey, Feb. 8, 2023. The newborn, 20-days old, was rescued 59 hours after the earthquake and reported to be in good health. Rescue efforts continue for his mother.
Ibrahim Oner/SOPA via Getty Images
Soldiers rush a newborn to an ambulance for medical treatment in Hatay, Turkey, Feb. 8, 2023. The newborn, 20-days old, was rescued 59 hours after the earthquake and reported to be in good health. Rescue efforts continue for his mother.
Burak Kara/Getty Images
Rescue workers carry Yigit Cakmak, an 8-years-old survivor at the site of a collapsed building 52 hours after the earthquake struck, on Feb. 8, 2023, in Hatay, Turkey. A 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit near Gaziantep, Turkey, in the early hours of Monday, followed by another 7.5-magnitude tremor just after midday. The quakes caused widespread destruction in southern Turkey and northern Syria and were felt in nearby countries.
Burak Kara/Getty Images
People gather around the rubble of collapsed buildings, Feb. 8, 2023, in Hatay, Turkey. A 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit near Gaziantep, Turkey, in the early hours of Monday, followed by another 7.5-magnitude tremor just after midday. The quakes caused widespread destruction in southern Turkey and northern Syria and were felt in nearby countries.
Cansu Yildirann/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Volunteers work to rescue a woman trapped under debris from a collapsed building in Hatay, Turkey, Feb. 8, 2023. Turkey’s government is overwhelmed by the extent of the damage to infrastructure, logistical problems and aid needed to assist the 13.4 million people living in the disaster zone.
Umit Turhan Coskun/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Survivors of the earthquake waiting on news of relatives buried under the rubble hug in Hatay, Turkey, Feb. 8, 2023. Hatay is one of the hardest hit regions in Turkey, after a massive 7.8 earthquake and its aftershocks devastated the area.
Rami al Sayed/AFP via Getty Images
Members of the Syrian civil defense, known as the White Helmets, warm themselves by a fire next to the rubble of a collapsed building in Jinderis, Feb. 7, 2023, as search and rescue operations continue following a deadly earthquake.
Mehmet Kacmaz/Getty Images
A woman cries as she waits for the autopsy to be carried out on her aunt, in front of the Elbistan State Hospital, Feb. 8, 2023, in Elbistan Turkey. The massive 7.8 earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria devastated the area, leveling towns and killing thousands of people as they slept early Monday morning.
Tunahan Turhan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
People seen waiting in the earthquake zone on Feb. 7, 2023. Turkey experienced the biggest earthquake of this century in the border region with Syria. The earthquake was measured at 7.7 magnitude.
Tunahan Turhan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Search operations continue after the earthquake on Feb. 7, 2023. Turkey experienced the biggest earthquake of this century in the border region with Syria. The earthquake was measured at 7.7 magnitude.
AytugCan Sencar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Baby Ayse Vera and her mother, Hulya Yilmaz (not pictured), are rescued from the rubble of a collapsed building, 29 hours after powerful earthquakes hit Hatay, Turkey, Feb. 7, 2023.
Rami al Sayed/AFP via Getty Images
A newborn baby, who was found still tied by her umbilical cord to her mother then pulled alive from the rubble of a home in northern Syria, receives medical care from doctor Hani Maaruf, at a clinic in Afrin, Feb. 7, 2023. The infant is the sole survivor of her immediate family, the rest of whom were all killed when a 7.8-magnitude quake that struck Syria and Turkey flattened the family home in the rebel-held town of Jindaris, the baby’s cousin, Khalil al-Suwadi, said.
Rami al Sayed/AFP via Getty Images
A Syrian boy watches an excavator go through the rubble of a house in which an entire family, save a newborn baby, was killed, Feb. 7, 2023, in the town of Jandaris, Syria, following a deadly earthquake. Residents and rescue workers uncovered a newborn survivor trapped under rubble, her umbilical chord still tied to her mother, who died when the building collapsed.
Adem Altan/AFP via Getty Images
Mesut Hancer holds the hand of his 15-year-old daughter Irmak in Kahramanmaras, Turkey, Feb. 7, 2023. Irmak died when a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Turkey’s southeast border with Syria, devastating the region. Kahramanmaras is close to the quake’s epicenter in Gaziantep.
AFP via Getty Images
]Rescue workers search for survivors in the rubble of a collapsed building in Jableh, a town in Syria’s Latakia province, Feb. 7, 2023. A massive rescue effort in Turkey and Syria is hampered by frigid weather in a race against time to find survivors under buildings flattened by powerful quakes that killed more than 5,000 people.
Bulent Kilic/AFP via Getty Images
An earthquake survivor reacts as rescuers look for victims and other survivors in Hatay, Turkey, Feb. 7, 2023, the day after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the country’s southeast border with Syria.
Adem Altan/AFP via Getty Images
Civilians look for survivors under the rubble of collapsed buildings in Kahramanmaras on Feb. 7, 2023, the day after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the country’s southeast border with Syria.
Burak Kara/Getty Images
Smoke billows from the Iskenderun Port as rescue workers work at the scene of a collapsed building, Feb. 7, 2023, in Iskenderun, Turkey. A 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit near Gaziantep, Turkey, causing widespread destruction in southeastern Turkey and northern Syria.
Esra Hacioglu Karakaya/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Search and rescue efforts continue in the 8-storey apartment destroyed in the earthquake, in Diyarbakir, Turkey following 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes hit Turkey’s Kahramanmaras on Feb. 6, 2023.
Sezgin Pancar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Search and rescue operations are carried out in the wreckage in Hatay, after 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes hit Turkey’s Kahramanmaras, on Feb. 6, 2023.
Evrim Aydin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
A view of a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras, Turkey following 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes hit Kahramanmaras on Feb. 7, 2023.
Ilyas Akengin/AFP via Getty Images
Rescue workers and volunteers search for victims and survivors in the rubble of a collapsed building in Diyarbakir, Turkey, Feb. 6, 2023, after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the country’s southeastern border with Syria.
Can Erok/AFP via Getty Images
A woman cries as rescuers search for survivors through the rubble of a building that collapsed in Adana, Turkey, Feb. 6, 2023, after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the country’s southeastern border with Syria.
Ilyas Akengin/AFP via Getty Images
A man reacts as people search for survivors through the rubble in Diyarbakir, Turkey, Feb 6, 2023, after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the country’s southeastern border. The quake – followed by a smaller 7.5 magnitude earthquake – was Turkey’s biggest in at least a century.
Can Erok/AFP via Getty Images
Rescuers search for victims and survivors amidst the rubble of a building that collapsed in Adana, Turkey, Feb. 6, 2023, after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the country’s southeastern border with Syria.
Rami al Sayed/AFP via Getty Images
A man helps an injured resident slide out of the rubble of a collapsed building in Jindires, Syria, Feb. 6, 2023, after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the region.
Bakr Alkasem/AFP via Getty Images
A Syrian man weeps as he carries the body of his son who was killed in an earthquake in the town of Jindires, Syria, Feb. 6, 2023.
Rami al Sayed/AFP via Getty Images
Residents stand in front of a collapsed building in Jindires, Syria, Feb. 6, 2023, after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit the border of Turkey and Syria.
Anas Alkharboutli/dpa via Getty Images
Residents of Idlib, Syria, inspect a destroyed building after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit the border between Turkey and Syria, killing thousands and devastating the region.
Ugur Yildirim/dpa via Getty Images
People search for victims and survivors from the rubble of a building in Afrin, Syria, Feb. 6, 2023. Two massive earthquakes – at 7.8 magnitude and 7.5 magnitude respectively – struck in the border region of Turkey and Syria early Monday morning, killing thousands as they slept.
AFP via Getty Images
Rescue teams search for survivors under the rubble of a collapsed building in Aleppo, Syria, Feb. 6, 2023.
Omar Jah Kadour/AFP via Getty Images
Residents for victims and survivors in the rubble of collapsed buildings, following an 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Sarmada, Syria, Feb. 6, 2023.
Omar Haj Kadour/AFP via Getty Images
Residents search for victims and survivors amidst the rubble of collapsed buildings in the village of Besnia, Syria, Feb. 6, 2022. The village is close to the Turkish-Syrian border, where a 7.8 magnitude – and later
a 7.5 magnitude – earthquake struck.
Video captured the moment when a building went down in the Turkish city of Malatya after a series of earthquakes hit Turkey and Syria.

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