The death toll has risen to more than 7200, and frustration is mounting among residents in Turkey over the authorities’ response to the disaster.
| Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday declared a state of emergency in 10 provinces devastated by two earthquakes that killed more than 7200 people and left a trail of destruction across a wide area of southern Turkey and neighbouring Syria.
“There is not even a single person here. We are under the snow, without a home, without anything,” said Murat Alinak, whose home in Malatya had collapsed and whose relatives are missing. “What shall I do, where can I go?”Monday’s magnitude 7.8 quake, followed hours later by a second one almost as powerful, toppled thousands of buildings including hospitals, schools and apartment blocks.Tens of thousands of people were injured or left homeless in cities in Turkey and northern Syria.
on Tuesday declared 10 Turkish provinces a disaster zone and imposed a state of emergency there for three months. This will permit the government to bypass parliament in enacting new laws and to limit or suspend rights and freedoms.The government will open up hotels in the tourism hub of Antalya to temporarily house people impacted by the quakes, said Mr Erdogan, who faces a national election in three months’ time.
In Antakya, capital of Hatay province bordering Syria, rescue teams were thin on the ground and residents picked through debris themselves. People pleaded for helmets, hammers, iron rods and rope. More than 12,000 Turkish search and rescue personnel are working in the affected areas, along with 9000 troops. Some 70 countries and sending personnel, equipment and aid.“The area is enormous. I haven’t seen anything like this before,” said Johannes Gust, from Germany’s fire and rescue service, as he loaded equipment onto a truck at Turkey’s Adana airport.
“There are lot of efforts by our teams, but they are unable to respond to the catastrophe and the large number of collapsed buildings,” group head Raed al-Saleh said.
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