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DIYARBAKIR, Turkey: The most powerful earthquake in nearly a century struck Turkey and Syria early Monday (Feb 6), killing more than 1,900 people in their sleep, levelling buildings and causing tremors felt as far away as Greenland.
The 7.8-magnitude nighttime tremor, followed hours later by a slightly smaller one, wiped out entire sections of major Turkish cities in a region filled with millions of people who have fled the civil war in Syria and other conflicts.
Rescuers used heavy equipment and their bare hands to peel back rubble in search of survivors, who they could in some cases hear begging for help under the rubble.
"Since I live in an earthquake zone, I am used to being shaken," said Melisa Salman, a reporter in the Turkish city of Kahramanmaras.
"But that was the first time we have ever experienced anything like that," the 23-year-old told AFP.
"We thought it was the apocalypse."
The head of Syria's National Earthquake Centre, Raed Ahmed, called it "the biggest earthquake recorded in the history of the centre".
Turkey's emergency services said at least 1,121 people died in the earthquake, with another 783 confirmed fatalities in Syria, putting that toll at 1,904.
The initial quake was followed by more than 50 aftershocks, including a 7.5-magnitude tremor that jolted the region in the middle of search and rescue work on Monday afternoon.
Shocked survivors in Turkey rushed out into the snow-covered streets in their pyjamas, watching rescuers dig through the debris of damaged homes with their hands.
"Seven members of my family are under the debris," Muhittin Orakci, a stunned survivor in Turkey's mostly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, told AFP.
"My sister and her three children are there. And also her husband, her father-in-law and her mother-in-law."
The rescue was being hampered by a winter blizzard that covered major roads in ice and snow. Officials said the quake made three major airports in the area inoperable, further complicating deliveries of vital aid.

"RAN FOR THE DOOR"
The first quake struck at 4.17am local time at a depth of about 18km near the Turkish city of Gaziantep, which is home to about 2 million people, the US Geological Survey said.
Denmark's geological institute said tremors from the main quake reached the east coast of Greenland about eight minutes after the tremor struck Turkey.
Osama Abdel Hamid, a quake survivor in Syria, said his family was sleeping when the shaking began.
"I woke up my wife and my children and we ran towards the door," he said. "We opened it and suddenly all the building collapsed."
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/wor...uake-more-1200-dead-thousands-injured-3256346