President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan came to the Presidency of AFAD to coordinate the studies regarding the 7.7 magnitude earthquake, the epicenter of which is in the Pazarcık district of Kahramanmaraş and affecting 10 provinces.
Making a statement to the members of the press at the AFAD Coordination Center, Erdoğan said, “Tonight at 04:17, we were shaken by the biggest disaster since the 1939 Erzincan earthquake that we experienced in the last century. Its center was determined as Pazarcık district of Kahramanmaraş and its moment magnitude was measured as 7.7 according to the last evaluation. The earthquake was felt over a wide area. said.
Stating that the depth of the earthquake was determined as 7 kilometers, President Erdoğan said, “The earthquake caused destruction in Kahramanmaraş, as well as in Hatay, Gaziantep, Kilis, Osmaniye, Malatya, Adıyaman, Diyarbakır, Şanlıurfa, Adana provinces. Despite minor damage in other provinces relatively close to the earthquake centre, President Erdoğan said: Despite this, it is understood that the real destruction has taken place here. Serious destructions have also occurred in the cities of our southern neighbor Syria, close to our borders. Our state has taken action with all its institutions since the earthquake. he said.
Stating that the governorships in the earthquake region immediately mobilized all the opportunities in their own provinces, President Erdoğan continued as follows:
“Ten more governors have been assigned to work together with our current governorships in 10 provinces affected by the earthquake. Our institutions such as AFAD and Red Crescent, which have direct disaster duties, sent their teams to the region. Our institutions, especially our Turkish Armed Forces and municipalities, which have units with infrastructure and training in disaster studies, were called to duty. We gave our priority to search and rescue efforts. Currently, 9 thousand personnel carry out search and rescue work, and this number is constantly increasing with those who reach the earthquake zone from outside. In our provinces where the earthquake caused heavy damage, the detection and rescue activities of our citizens who were under the collapsed buildings continue uninterruptedly.
From the moment of the earthquake, we contacted both the region and our friends in Ankara and closely followed the work. Our coordination center in Ankara became operational immediately under the chairmanship of our Vice President Fuat Oktay. Our ministers went to our cities in the earthquake zone and started to coordinate the work on site. Starting from nearby places, search and rescue teams and equipment, aid materials have been dispatched to the earthquake area from all over our country. Our citizens also help the search and rescue and aid teams, which are guided according to the planning made by AFAD.”
“912 of our citizens lost their lives, 5 thousand 385 of our citizens were injured”
Emphasizing that the fact that the season is winter, the weather is cold, and the earthquake took place in the middle of the night makes things difficult, Erdoğan emphasized that everyone is given the fastest possible reflex by working hard and hard, “According to the determinations so far, 912 of our citizens have lost their lives and 5,385 of our citizens have been injured. Number of people rescued from under the rubble. It has reached 2,470. The number of buildings found to be destroyed is 2,818.” said.
Stating that it is not known how high the number of dead and injured will rise, President Erdoğan said:
“Our hope is that we have survived this disaster with the least loss of life. Of course, it is of great importance that transportation and communication are carried out in such times. For this, especially the roads to the wreckage areas should be kept open and communication tools should be used only in cases of necessity. People and institutions that will go to the region for help must be made by AFAD. Aids sent to the region outside the coordination of AFAD both cause chaos and make it difficult to reach their goal.
Contacts with our country have also started to be established for international aid. In addition to NATO and the European Union, we received aid offers from 45 countries. I wish God’s mercy on our citizens who lost their lives in this great disaster, and a speedy recovery to our wounded. I hope we will leave these disastrous days behind in unity and solidarity as a country and nation. Day; 85 million is the day to be one heart, one wrist. I convey my best wishes to our brothers in our country and in all geographies where the earthquake was felt. I pray that my Lord will protect our country and all humanity from such disasters.”
Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Mustafa Şentop, Minister of Labor and Social Security Vedat Bilgin, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa Varank, AK Party Deputy Chairman Binali Yıldırım and Communications Director Fahrettin Altun also attended the meeting at the AFAD Coordination Center.
President Erdoğan received information from the authorities in the region after the earthquake
On the other hand, according to the statement made by the Presidency of Communications, President Erdoğan had a phone conversation with Adana Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Zeydan Karalar, Osmaniye Mayor Kadir Kara, Kilis Governor Recep Soytürk and Kilis Mayor Servet Ramazan.
During the meetings, Erdoğan received information about the situation in the earthquake-affected areas and search and rescue efforts.
President Erdoğan later spoke on the phone with Hatay Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Savaş.
After receiving information about the situation in the province and the search and rescue efforts after the earthquake, President Erdoğan also conveyed his wishes of getting well soon.
<p>The post Turkey: At least 912 killed, 5,385 injured first appeared on NationalTurk.</p>
Source: NationalTurk
