Widespread Devastation: Powerful Quakes Hit Turkey, Thousands Dead; USGS Warns Death Toll Could Hit 10,000

A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocked southern Turkey early Monday, killing at least 1,400 people in the country and neighboring Syria. There are reports of another quake, registering 7.5-magnitude in the country’s southeast less than 12 hours from the first.

The first quake was felt as far away as Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon — occurred in Kahramanmaras province, north of Gaziantep, near the Syrian border. Most of the damage is in southern Turkey and northern Syria.

 

The first quake was so powerful that buildings hundreds of miles away swayed in Israel. The second quake, a 7.5-magnitude, struck Kahramanmaras province just moments ago.

As the dust settles and daylight emerges, footage of the earthquake’s aftermath is shocking.

Okan Tuysuz, a professor of geology at Istanbul Technical University, told Bloomberg that the quake was the “strongest earthquake in Turkey since 1939.” He said one of the world’s most active seismic zones runs through the country.

The devastation is so bad that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union, and 45 countries offer assistance to Turkey.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on state television that nearly 3,000 buildings were destroyed.

“We hope that we will overcome this disaster together as soon as possible,” Erdogan said.

So far, reports in the southern part of the country show the port of Iskenderun was damaged. Cracks were found in airport runways in that part of the country.

Turkish state-run pipeline operator Botas said no leaks were detected in crude oil pipelines in Turkey’s south. These critical pipelines connect Turkey with vast oil fields in Iraq and Azerbaijan.

In financial markets, Turkish stocks plunged. The country’s stock exchange banned short selling. Here’s a Bloomberg market update:

The Borsa Istanbul 100 Index dropped as much as 4.6% in morning trading, with state-run insurance company Turkiye Sigorta AS and fertilizer producer Gubre Fabrikalari TAS leading declines. The lira held steady. Turkish stock exchange Borsa Istanbul suspended short selling on the country’s stocks on Monday for an indefinite time, while imposing a depository rule for selling shares as part of its efforts to limit a wider market fallout. Borsa Istanbul has also halted trading in eight companies until they make a statement on how their operations were affected by the earthquake.

As rescue efforts are underway, the United States Geological Survey warned the powerful quake could result in as many as 10,000 deaths.