Turkey-Syria earthquakes live: Six killed, hundreds injured

Two top German ministers have visited the quake-hit Turkish-Syrian border region and pledged their enduring support in aid and reconstruction efforts.

“Our sympathy is not exhausted in words and it will not diminish when the catastrophe and its consequences are replaced by other headlines
in the news,” Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock promised during a joint visit with Interior Minister Nancy Faeser to south-eastern Turkey.

Faeser assured the region of Germany’s “deeply felt solidarity” in the face of the tens of thousands of victims.

“The survivors, who have lost everything, need winter-proof shelters quickly,” she said before departing for the visit.

Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride reporting from Defne, Turkey said the Monday quakes in the city were “adding more misery and suffering to an area and people that have already suffered so much”.

“It happened at a time when people were coming back to buildings that are already been damaged and have been sifting through what used to be their homes looking for possessions,” he said.

“People who were once living out in the streets under tents were again outside reliving, if you like, all of the trauma of living through earthquakes … so it is an incredible concern for everybody who is here, trying to rebuild their lives.”

“Is there anyone out there?” is what Hatice remembers calling out as she lay amid the rubble shortly after the first of two earthquakes hit her region of Kahramanmaras, in southern Turkey.

“Don’t waste your breath, my daughter,” is what she recalls her husband saying to their daughter – he was in an equal state of confinement next to her. “No one hears us, my love. They’re not coming, my love. We’re stuck!” he would cry.

Luckily, someone did hear them.

In this Close Up episode, Al Jazeera followed rescue worker Tunc Cokkeser and his fellow teammates who worked to save the lives of people like Hatice.

The head of Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency says 294 people have been injured in the new earthquakes.

“May God have mercy on our citizens who lost their lives. I wish a speedy recovery to our wounded,” he tweeted.

“Our search and rescue efforts in the region continue uninterrupted.”

World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says he is “concerned about ongoing tremors” in Turkey and Syria.

“WHO teams are supporting health workers and mobile clinics in both countries with medical supplies so they can offer immediate care to everyone in need,” he posted on Twitter.

Syrian activist Abdul Kafi al-Hamdo and resident of the rebel-held region of Idlib in northwest Syria said most people have been staying away from weak buildings.

“All the people here are not safe from anything. They don’t trust anything even if their buildings are very strong,” he told Al Jazeera from Idlib.

“People are scared by the nights. We will have this problem for a long time.”

Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut, said there were reports that some buildings in northwest Syria and in government-controlled Aleppo that were damaged in the February 6 earthquake have collapsed.

“We’re not getting any reports of serious injuries,” she added.

“Most of the people who were affected two weeks ago are now living in tents outdoors. In footage or videos emerging from that region, you can see people in cars and in the streets. People are frightened, they are panicking.”

Al Jazeera’s Assed Baig, reporting from Antakya, Turkey, said two bodies were recovered from a collapsed building, while a third man was rescued.

“We understand that four men had gone into the building to recover some belongings. Authorities had warned not to go into the buildings but nobody really expected another earthquake of the magnitude that we’ve seen,” Baig said.