At least 47,975 dead from powerful twin earthquakes in southern Türkiye

By Faruk Zorlu

ANKARA (AA) - At least 47,975 people were killed by two strong earthquakes that jolted southern Türkiye on Feb. 6, the country’s disaster management agency said on Saturday.

The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes were centered in Kahramanmaras and struck 10 other provinces – Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Hatay, Gaziantep, Malatya, Kilis, Osmaniye, Elazig, and Sanliurfa. More than 13 million people have been affected by the devastating quakes.

Several countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon, also felt the strong tremors that struck Türkiye in the space of less than 10 hours.

Yunus Sezer, head of the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD), said: "We are now hosting around 1.8 million people in tents, container cities, and guesthouses in the region. Also, 17,787 containers were set up there."

"We are transferring a large part of the tent stock across the world to Türkiye. Every day, six planes transfer tents to the region. We are trying to send and set up about 10,000 tents daily in the region," he added.

A total of 332 tent cities were established in the quakes-hit zones, while as of now, 414,323 tents have been set up there, he said.

A total of 935,722 earthquake victims have been evacuated from the affected region. Also, around 273,000 victims are being hosted in guesthouses, hotels, and dormitories in other provinces, Sezer said.

Efforts to remove debris and set up tents are ongoing, he said, also adding services for nutrition, education, and psychosocial support to the victims continue in the region.