Turkey and Syria earthquake death toll passes 5000

February 07, 2023

Turkey’s vice-president has said that the death toll in the country from the earthquake now stands at 3419, Reuters reports. That takes the combined official death tolls from Turkey, Syria and the rebel-held areas of Syria to 5,021.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared seven days of national mourning, and Syria has appealed to the United Nations for help following devastating earthquakes that killed more than 5,000 people and toppled buildings across southeast Turkey and northern Syria.

Authorities fear the death toll from Monday’s predawn magnitude 7.8 temblor, followed by a magnitude 7.6 earthquake and several aftershocks will continue to climb as rescuers looked for survivors among tangles of metal and concrete spread across a region already suffering under Syria’s 12-year civil war and a refugee crisis.