Turkey

Restaurant owner opens doors to homeless quake victims in southern Turkiye

08 Feb 2023; MEMO: A kebab restaurant owner in southern Turkiye's Adana province has opened up his three restaurants to survivors of Monday's earthquakes, Anadolu News Agency reports.

"After the first earthquake, we thought the safest place to go would be the restaurant," Salih Oral told Anadolu.

"It was raining," he recalled. "We saw people waiting in their cars, sitting on the pavement or just milling around without a place to go."

Turkiye declares 3-month state of emergency in 10 provinces

08 Feb 2023; MEMO: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan yesterday declared a three-month state of emergency in ten southern provinces hit by devastating earthquakes on Monday.

"We are facing one of the biggest disasters, not only in the history of our republic, but also in our region and the world," Erdogan said in televised remarks.

Death toll in Turkey, Syria earthquake rises, hope fades

GAZIANTEP, Turkey (AP) — Rescuers pulled more survivors from beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings Thursday, but hopes were starting to fade of finding many more people alive more than three days after a catastrophic earthquake and series of aftershocks hit Turkey and Syria, killing more than 16,000.

Emergency crews working through the night in the city of Antakya were able to pull a young girl, Hazal Guner, from the ruins of a building and also rescued her father, Soner Guner, two hours later, news agency IHA reported.

Turkish leader acknowledges problems with earthquake relief effort

KAHRAMANMARAS/ANTAKYA, Turkey, Feb 8 (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday admitted to problems with his government's initial response to a devastating earthquake in southern Turkey amid anger from those left destitute and frustrated over the slow arrival of rescue teams.

Erdogan, who contests an election in May, said on a visit to the disaster zone that operations were now working normally and promised no one would be left homeless, as the combined death toll across Turkey and neighbouring Syria climbed above 11,000.

Fears grow for untold numbers buried by Turkey earthquake

NURDAGI, Turkey (AP) — Rescuers raced against time early Wednesday to pull survivors from the rubble before they succumbed to cold weather two days after an earthquake tore through southern Turkey and war-ravaged northern Syria. The death toll climbed above 7,700 and was expected to rise further.

The last two days have brought dramatic rescues, including small children emerging from mounds of debris more than 30 hours after Monday’s pre-dawn quake. But there was also widespread despair and growing anger at the slow pace of rescue efforts in some areas.

Ghana footballer Christian Atsu 'rescued from rubble' after Turkiye earthquake

07 Feb 2023; MEMO: Former Newcastle and Chelsea forward Christian Atsu has been found alive after being rescued from building rubble in Turkiye after the devastating earthquake which rocked the southern part of country and neighbouring Syria yesterday.

Turkiye cancels flights, suspends schools, braces for storm, snow

07 Feb 2023; MEMO: Turkish Airlines have cancelled 170 flights scheduled yesterday, including 152 via Istanbul Airport and 18 via Sabiha Gokcen Airport as the city braces for snow, Anadolu news agency reported.

Yahya Ustun, Turkish Airlines' senior vice president for media relations, said Pegasus Airlines has also cancelled all its flights to Sabiha Gokcen Airport in Istanbul.

Turkey: Fire at Iskenderun Port extinguished

07 Feb 2023; MEMO: A fire that engulfed hundreds of shipping containers at Turkiye's Iskenderun Port, after massive earthquakes in the region, have been extinguished, the Defence Ministry said on Tuesday, but it was not clear when operations would resume at the port, Reuters reports.

Turkiye's maritime authority said on Monday that the port, located on the Mediterranean coast in the southern province of Hatay, was damaged due to the earthquake that struck Turkiye and neighbouring Syria.

Turkey, Syria quake deaths pass 9,500; deadliest in decade

GAZIANTEP, Turkey (AP) — Thinly stretched rescue teams worked through the night in Turkey and Syria, pulling more bodies from the rubble of thousands of buildings toppled by a catastrophic earthquake. The death toll rose Wednesday to more than 9,500, making the quake the deadliest in more than a decade.

That makes it the deadliest since a 2011 earthquake in Japan triggered a tsunami, killing nearly 20,000 people.

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