‘Absolutely devastating’: Powerful earthquake rocks Turkey and Syria
Devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria. It struck before dawn and collapsed buildings while people were asleep in their beds. And just moments ago, we just got word of a powerful 7.5 magnitude aftershock. There you can see people digging through the rubble. More than 1,300 people now reported dead. And there's fear the death toll could potentially climb into the tens of thousands.
Right now, this desperate search underway for survivors trapped under giant piles of concrete. Dramatic video showing rescuers pulling a bloody toddler out of the rubble in northwest Syria. This is an area already traumatized and ravaged by the bloody and horrific civil war. Here's the moment one child was rescued from that rubble. We're going to get the latest now. Jamana Karachka is tracking the latest developments from Istanbul. Jamana, good morning to you.
What do we know this hour? Dawn, absolutely devastating major earthquake, as you mentioned, is 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck in Syria. And it's a huge earthquake. It's a huge earthquake. It's a huge earthquake. Major earthquake, as you mentioned, is 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck essentially in the middle of the night at about 4 o'clock in the morning while people were indoors, in bed.
It was so powerful that it was felt across the region in different countries, including Lebanon, Israel, Jordan. And as you mentioned, it was so powerful that we are looking now at these major aftershocks that have followed at least 30 so far reported. Just in the past half hour, a 7.5 magnitude authorities are urging people to stay away from structures. As we heard from the Turkish president, nearly 1,000 people have been confirmed killed in Turkey. Thousands, there's injured, there's fear for so many others who are potentially trapped underneath the rubble. I mean, we're talking about an area, Dawn, that stretches across southern Turkey, 10 provinces at least, and across the border into northwestern Syria as well.
So many cities and towns devastated in both these countries. More than 1,300 people confirmed killed in both Turkey and Syria. And this frantic rescue effort is ongoing right now. Of course, a race against time with only a few hours of daylight left. I mean, you can just see, it's obvious, the danger there. So one has to wonder, how do officials even begin to these rescue efforts under such conditions? Well, look, Dawn, you've got these two simultaneous disasters that this region is dealing with right now. What is happening here in Turkey, in a country that is very experienced in dealing with natural disaster.
It has a history of devastating earthquakes, tens of thousands of people who have been killed in major earthquakes over the years. The last one, according to President Erdogan, this is the first major disaster on the level of the last one seen in 1939. But you have the capabilities here. And at the same time, Turkish officials are declaring this a level for emergency, which means they have requested international support and international support is coming. You've got NATO, the EU, 45 countries, according to President Erdogan that have offered to help. You've got Turkish search and rescue teams that are very experienced in dealing with this, who have been deployed to the earthquake zone. You've got the military that has also been deployed.
The biggest concern right now, of course, you've got many challenges they're facing, including the weather. There's a winter storm, a severe winter storm, that is impacting that part of the country right now, and also trying to reach these areas with many different airports also impacted in the region. And a lot of concern, Dawn, I must mention, for Syria, a country where services and infrastructure is decimated by more than a decade of war. They really don't have the capabilities to deal with this right now. DC Rescue Workers on the scene, our Jemana Karacha is reporting this. She's in Istanbul. We'll check back with you on this very deadly earthquake.
Next hour. So let's go to our meteorologist, Chad Myers, to talk about what was just recorded, Chad. And that is the aftershock, the original quake 7.8. This aftershock, huge, 7.5 magnitude. An earthquake in itself.
Would have been the strongest earthquake since 1999 in the region. Now, we always talk about the epicenter, but really in this case, we should talk about the epiline. Here's the original 7.8. Here's the new 7.5. About 100 miles from one side to the other, this earth slipped.
And this earth slipped in what we call a strike slip, where the plates are touching, and all of a sudden they slide sideways. So the initial, the primary movement is the building moving sideways and then moving back. Unlike when we have the Ring of Fire, where we have the subduction plates, and sometimes plates will go up and plates will go down, causing the tsunamis. This is more of a sliding back and forth. Why that matters is because the buildings don't want to go back and forth. And then the secondary waves can begin to go up and down as well. There is the strike where the heaviest damage will be right now from the initial quake.
The new quake is far enough away from the first quake, about 60 miles, that we will see more damage in other areas as well. Two plates collide here. This is one of the areas that we expect this type of scenario. It hasn't happened in a long time, especially not a 7.8. And we talked about the weather. The reporter just did about how this very, very cold, temperatures around 40.
We will see snow in the forecast, especially where the new earthquake was. It's a much higher elevation, almost 2,000 feet higher in elevation than where the original quake was. This will be a very difficult, long, and tragic recovery, Bobby. You're right to add that aftershock, a big earthquake in and of itself. Thank you for that.
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