A massive earthquake jolts Turkey and Syria on Monday (Feb 6), causing damage to infrastructure and killing more than 4,000 people. The 7.8 magnitude quake was followed by dozens of aftershocks, which wiped out entire sections of major Turkish cities in the region.
In Turkey’s Hatay province, the only runway at the airport has also been shattered and left fully unusable. Monday’s earthquake is Turkey’s worst disaster in decades, the country’s president has said. According to seismologists, the first quake was one of the largest ever recorded in the country. 12 hours later, a second quake was triggered with a magnitude of 7.5, with its epicenter in the Elbistan district of Kahramanmaras province, as per the BBC.Â
An official from Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority said it was “not an aftershock” and was “independent” from the earlier quake.Â
Officials have counted more than 50 aftershocks within the first 10 hours of the initial disaster. They have warned that more would rumble on for many more days.Â
