Space Industry and Business News
SHAKE AND BLOW
Toll rises to above 44,000 after Turkey-Syria quake
Toll rises to above 44,000 after Turkey-Syria quake
By Gregory Walton
Antakya, Turkey (AFP) Feb 18, 2023

The death toll on Saturday rose to more than 44,000 from the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria with the body of former Ghana international footballer Christian Atsu also found beneath a collapsed building in Antakya.

The numbers of people found alive under the rubble have dropped to only a handful in recent days and the head of Turkey's disaster agency, Yunus Sezer, said rescue operations would be "largely completed" by Sunday night.

State news agency Anadolu initially reported on Saturday three people were found alive nearly two weeks after the the 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit on February 6. But the agency later reported that one of them, a 12-year-old, had died.

Anadolu images showed rescuers placing a man and a woman on stretchers after the married couple and a child spent 296 hours under the rubble in the southeastern Turkish city of Antakya.

The agency later reported three of their children had died including the 12-year-old.

Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca shared a video of the 40-year-old mother in a field hospital receiving treatment. "She is conscious," he tweeted.

AFP correspondents said rescuers from Kyrgyzstan continued working in Antakya with the hope of finding more people pulled out alive after thermal tests showed signs of life.

Teams on Friday pulled four people alive from the rubble, including a 45-year-old man and a 14-year-old boy, in the surrounding Hatay province.

- Lax building standards -

Rescues that were initially met with applause and relief, have in recent days been greeted more soberly.

Officials and medics said that 40,642 people had died in Turkey and 3,688 in Syria from the quake, bringing the confirmed total to 44,330. The toll from Syria has remained unchanged for days.

The quake -- in one of the world's most active seismic zones -- hit populated areas as many slept, in homes that had not been built to resist such powerful tremors.

The disaster has put pressure on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the slow response to the quake and why his government allowed such poor-quality buildings to be erected.

Turkish officials had promised after a quake in 1999 killed more than 17,000 people in northwestern Turkey that building regulations would be strengthened.

Footballer Atsu's manager confirmed on Saturday his body had been found beneath a collapsed building in Antakya.

The building where he died, a 12-storey luxury block of flats, was built in 2013 when Turkey had tougher rules on construction.

Atsu's block toppled over, causing outrage in Turkey over how a relatively new building was unable to withstand a quake.

Turkish police have since arrested the building's contractor after he tried to flee the country.

- 'Not right to leave' -

Officers have arrested dozens of contractors as the government promises to crack down on lax building standards.

More than 84,000 buildings either collapsed, need urgent demolition or were severely damaged in the quake, officials said.

One of the areas severely hit was Antakya, an ancient crossroads of civilisations.

The city has suffered several earthquakes -- almost one every 100 years -- and is no stranger to rebuilding.

"We will clean up and continue living here," said optician Cuneyt Eroglu, 45, sifting through the wreckage of his shop, surrounded by twisted glasses and paraphernalia.

Unlike other parts of the old town, the street in front of his shop has not yet been cleared of the rubble and twisted metal that engulfed much of the city.

Eroglu, whose family escaped the quake uninjured, is now staying in a tent in a village outside Antakya.

"It wouldn't be right to leave Antakya," he said.

Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
When the Earth Quakes
A world of storm and tempest

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
SHAKE AND BLOW
Turkey's deadly quake renews alarm for Istanbul
Istanbul (AFP) Feb 17, 2023
The 7.8-magnitude earthquake that killed tens of thousands across Turkey's southeast has reignited fears of an even more catastrophic death toll if a long-feared one hits Istanbul. Seismologists warn that a massive earthquake is likely to strike Turkey's biggest city - officially home to 16 million people but estimated to hold up to 20 million - by 2030. The city lies on the northern edge of one of Turkey's main fault lines and is densely packed. A 7.6-magnitude earthquake with an epicentr ... read more

SHAKE AND BLOW
'Magic' solvent creates stronger thin films

Space Station research announcement for advanced materials and manufacturing open now

Smart contact lens with navigation function, made with 3D printer

Turkey's once mighty developers under fire after quake

SHAKE AND BLOW
Multi aircraft and naval ships showcase interoperability

SES, ThinKom and Hughes enable multi-orbit resilient connectivity for critical airborne missions

Comtech receives additional funding for US Army Communications

GIT becomes Iridium Certus Service Provider to DoD and other Government customers

SHAKE AND BLOW
SHAKE AND BLOW
China to employ BeiDou satellite-based augmentation system in railway survey

GEODNET offers centimeter precision and GNSS corrections for OEMS and Ag Sector

New Galileo service set to deliver 20 cm accuracy

HawkEye 360 to monitor GPS interference in support of the US Space Force

SHAKE AND BLOW
Lufthansa hit by major IT outage, flights cancelled

Beijing tells US to investigate balloons allegedly flown over China

US recovers sensor parts from downed Chinese balloon: military

High-tech jets take on balloon, other objects in N.America skies

SHAKE AND BLOW
Atom-thin walls could smash size, memory barriers in next-gen devices

Engineers discover a new way to control atomic nuclei as "qubits"

Quantum Australia: Hear global insiders map out next phase of the boom

Encoding breakthrough allows for solving wider set of applications using neutral-atom quantum computers

SHAKE AND BLOW
Tracking ocean microplastics from space

Esri releases new app to easily view and analyze global land-cover changes

Earth from Space: Swedish landscape

Ozone depletion leads to Antarctic upper-stratospheric warming in winter

SHAKE AND BLOW
Study finds watching TV is good for the planet

Donated clothing worsening Kenya's plastic pollution: report

Sinkholes sow fear in former Polish mining town

Sri Lanka bans single-use plastics to save elephants

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.