Turkish earthquakes largest by far recently: EU emergency official

By Omer Tugrul Cam

BRUSSELS (AA) - The tremors that have hit Türkiye is “by far one of the largest earthquakes we have seen in recent times," the head of the EU Civil Protection & Humanitarian Aid said Tuesday.

Hans Das told a group of Turkish journalists at the EU Emergency Response Coordination Center (ERCC) in Brussels that it is "a race against time because of the weather conditions. We need to be as swift as possible. The next two, three days are crucial," he said.

“The impact is enormous. It is particularly widespread, and it's really very tragic," he said.

Das said the next few days are quite important to help as many people as possible in need.

He said his agency is also sharing satellite images with Turkish authorities to help rescue efforts.

Touching on coordination with relevant Turkish authorities, he said the EU Civil Protection & Humanitarian Aid has good and fast communication with the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) in Türkiye.

At least 3,549 people were killed and 22,168 injured in 10 provinces of Türkiye from two strong earthquakes that jolted the southern part of the country, an official from the AFAD said Tuesday.

The powerful magnitude 7.7-earthquake struck the Pazarcik district of Kahramanmaras province early Monday and shook several other provinces, including Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, Adana, Adiyaman, Malatya, Osmaniye, Hatay and Kilis.

That was followed at 1.24 p.m. local time by a 7.6-magnitude quake centered in the Elbistan district of Kahramanmaras struck the region.

Türkiye is observing seven days of mourning, and has also declared a three-month state of emergency in the affected provinces.