Shocking video shows the destruction in the wake of a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck southern Turkey early Monday morning local time. It was the highest-magnitude earthquake to hit the region since the 1939 Erzincan quake.
The shallow-depth earthquake was felt far beyond Turkey’s borders — Israel was rocked and Syria has reported hundreds of casualties. More than 3,000 buildings collapsed in Turkey alone.
In Lebanon, buildings shook for 40 seconds and significant damage was reported.
More than five aftershocks exceeding 6.0 in magnitude have wreaked havoc and hampered rescue efforts. Video from a New York Times affiliate in Sanliurfa, Turkey, shows a residential building collapsing soon after the earthquake.
A video clip from Malatya, Turkey, shows the collapse of a seven-story building.
Gaziantep Gov. Davut Gul is pleading with residents not to panic and to keep roadways clear for emergency personnel.
Emergency rooms of Syrian American Medical Association (SAMS) hospitals in northwest Syria were reportedly full.
Rescue workers are overwhelmed. The video below, however, shows a brief moment of triumph as rescue workers remove a young girl from the debris after being trapped for hours:
Officials expect the death toll in Syria and Turkey to surpass 3,000.
In recent months, Turkey and Syria have grown increasingly adversarial to America — choosing to side and work with Russia over NATO and the United States.
In the wake of the quake, however, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed “deep sadness at the tragic loss of life and destruction” and pledged that U.S. humanitarian assistance is on the way.
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