A powerful earthquake that struck Turkey on Monday morning killed over 900 people and injured over 5,000, according to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, Erdogan stated that the 7.7 magnitude earthquake that wreaked havoc in the country’s central region had killed 912 people and injured 5,385 others. “There were 2,470 people rescued from the rubble, and 2,818 buildings were destroyed,” he said.
The president stated that local authorities “had mobilized all their means,” and that the response efforts include not only the ten disaster-affected provinces, but also ten other regional governors.
He stated that priority had been given to search and rescue efforts aimed at rescuing those still trapped beneath the rubble. Erdogan stated that 9,000 personnel are involved, with the number constantly increasing.
He went on to call the disaster “the worst disaster since the Erzincan earthquake of 1939” in eastern Turkey, which killed an estimated 32,000 people and injured 100,000.
The disaster has also struck neighboring Syria, with the country’s health ministry reporting that 326 people have died across several provinces, with 1,042 injured.
