More than 7,000 Have Died after Earthquakes Hammer Turkey and Syria

Rescue efforts were complicated on Monday by a series of aftershocks: At least 55 earthquakes of magnitude 4.3 or greater have struck near Turkey’s Syrian border in the past 24 hours, according to the US Geological Survey.

The first quake was the largest: a 7.8 magnitude temblor that hit at 4:17 a.m. local time. Since then, at least 15 of the quakes have been magnitude 5.0 or greater, and two have been at 6.0 or more, the USGS says.

The powerful aftershocks have unleashed danger and panic on the public — as epitomized by a TV news crew that documented the moment yet another strong quake forced people to flee, hoping to escape dangers posed by collapsing buildings and the shaking ground.

Some tried to escape in their cars, which jammed the roads and made it even harder for emergency services to reach the wounded. In Turkey, mosques opened as shelters for those who can’t go home.

The country had been bracing for a snowstorm, with Turkish Airlines canceling more than 200 flights for Sunday and Monday because of expected conditions. In nearby Greece, heavy snowfall shut down schools, shops and many in-person businesses and public services in Athens on Monday.

The earthquake in northern Syria hit parts of the country that have been already been devastated by more than a decade of civil war.

Millions of Syrians who fled fighting live in refugee camps or basic tented settlements established amid the olive groves that run along the border with Turkey.

The Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations (UOSSM), an organization that provides health care in rebel-held areas of northwest Syria, said “so far our hospitals in northwest Syria have received 91 dead and treated more than 500 severely injured victims of the earthquake.”

Four of hospitals were damaged and evacuated, the organization said.

The United Nations monitoring body, the OCHA, says of the population of 4.6 million people in northwest Syria, some 4.1 million people are in need of humanitarian aid. More than 3 million residents of the area are food insecure.

World leaders send aid and condolences

More than 40 world leaders offered aid and assistance, according to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

President Biden issued a message saying he was “deeply saddened by the loss of life and devastation” in Turkey and Syria. Biden said in a tweet that he has directed his administration to monitor the situation closely, to coordinate with Turkish officials and to “provide any and all needed assistance.”

The U.S. aid response “is already underway” in Turkey, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement issued by the State Department. And in Syria, he added, humanitarian groups that are supported by the U.S. are also responding to the earthquake emergency there.

The U.S. response will include USAID — the U.S. Agency for International Development — and other federal agencies, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said earlier Monday.

The United Nations General Assembly held a minute of silence for the more than 2,300 victims of the earthquakes in Syria and Turkey during its 58th meeting this morning.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also announced Monday that NATO allies would mobilize to help Turkey. Relations between the alliance and Turkey remained tense after Turkish President Erdogan blocked bids by Sweden and Finland to join the alliance in May.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said hundreds of staff and volunteers with the Turkish Red Crescent are supporting people on the ground with mobile kitchens, catering vehicles, tents and blankets.

Monday’s earthquake was one of the country’s worst disasters in decades. The size and scope of the seismic activity makes it roughly the equivalent of a 1999 earthquake that hit Turkey, one of the deadliest quakes in history that killed more than 17,000 people.

Among the damaged structures right now is a 2,000-year-old castle in southeastern Turkey, according to state and local reports.

Gaziantep Castle — located in the heart of the city closest to the quake’s epicenter — had previously withstood multiple invasions, renovations and regime changes.

Armenia offered to provide urgent aid to Turkey and Syria after the two countries were hit by a powerful earthquake early on Monday.

“Saddened by the news of the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria that resulted in the loss of so many lives,” tweeted Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. “Our deepest condolences to the families of the victims and we wish a speedy recovery to the injured.”

“Armenia is ready to provide assistance,” he wrote.

Pashinyan did not specify whether the Armenian government is ready to send relief aid and/or search-and-rescue teams. The government made no statements to that effect immediately after his tweet.

(Stories from NPR and The Armenian Report were used to compile this report.)