Rescue workers and medical teams try to reach trapped residents in a collapsed building following an earthquake in Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkey, early Monday, Feb. 6, 2023.
As daylight settled over cities and refugee camps housing thousands of Syrians, rescue workers were combing through the rubble as international aid groups and countries planned to send resources. Photos showed a historic mosque in pieces after the quake and there were reports from local media that fires had broken out in some regions from damaged gas lines.
The U.S. Geological Survey added that many buildings in the parts of Turkey near the quake’s epicentre were made of brick and concrete, making many towns “extremely vulnerable” to earthquakes.
The Syrian American Medical Society said a hospital in the country’s Idlib province had been damaged in the temblors and had to be evacuated. Tremors were felt throughout the Levant, including in Lebanon and Israel, and the region was hit with several powerful aftershocks.
The U.S. pledged to provide “any and all” assistance needed, but photos and videos released Monday morning portend a long, slow recovery effort that spans throughout Turkey and beyond.
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Damaged vehicles sit parked in front of a collapsed building following an earthquake in Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkey.
Depo Photos via AP
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Search and rescue works continue after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake hit southern provinces of Turkey, in Diyarbakir, Turkey, on Feb. 6, 2023.
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
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A view of debris as rescue workers conduct search and rescue operations after the 7.4 magnitude earthquake hits Kahramanmaras, Turkey.
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A view of collapsed building after the earthquake on Feb. 6, 2023, in Sanliurfa, Turkey.
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A view of destroyed building after earthquakes jolted Turkish citizens awake early Monday morning.
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Members of the Syrian civil defence, known as the White Helmets, look for casualties under the rubble following an earthquake in the town of Zardana in the countryside of the northwestern Syrian Idlib province, early on Feb. 6, 2023.
Mohammed Al-Rifai/AFP via Getty Images
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Residents search for victims and survivors amidst the rubble of a building that collapsed, following an earthquake in the village of Azmarin, near the Turkish border in the north of Syria's rebel-held northwestern Idlib province, early on Feb. 6, 2023.
Omar Haj Kadour/AFP via Getty Images
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An aerial view of debris of a collapsed building after the powerful earthquake hit Sanliurfa, Turkey on Feb. 6, 2023.
Rauf Maltas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
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Members of the Syrian civil defence, known as the White Helmets transport a casualty pulled from the rubble following an earthquake in the town of Zardana in the countryside of the northwestern Syrian Idlib province, early on Feb. 6, 2023.
Abdulaziz Ketaz/AFP via Getty Images
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A view of a collapsed building as search and rescue works continue in Hatay, Turkey, after the earthquake hit the southern provinces of the country on Feb. 6, 2023.
Halis Kalkan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
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A man stands next to the rubble of a building following an earthquake in the town of Sarmada in the countryside of the northwestern Syrian Idlib province, early on Feb. 6, 2023.