site.btaRescue Effort Largely Discontinued in Turkiye

Search activities in the aftermath of the February 6 devastating earthquakes in Turkiye were discontinued by February 13 as wreckage clearing went on. For instance, this applies to the city of Adana, where Bulgarian teams have participated in the rescue effort since February 7.

Life in Adana is getting back to normal. However, in one of the worst-hit towns, Nurdagi, which was razed to the ground, the scene remains apocalyptic as in a horror film, and rescue operations were wrapped up in many places despite reports of several people, including children, saved in Nurdagi after spending 130 hours trapped under the rubble.

On February 12, rescue work continued in parts of Gaziantep. From time to time, rescuers asked machine operators to switch off their equipment and people to keep silent as there were indications that survivors could be trapped in the wreckage.

Three children and an adult were reported rescued in Hatay and Adiyaman on February 12 a good 150 hours after the disaster struck. On February 13, a 40-year-old woman was saved in Gaziantep 170 hours after the strongest earthquake.

The Turkish authorities and those of many other countries have contributed to the rescue and clearing, have provided humanitarian relief and helped protect security and evacuate people from the disaster area.

Police officers, soldiers, firefighters, disaster and emergency management staff, representatives of many charity organizations and medical workers have been sent to the affected area.

The earthquakes measuring 7.7 and 7.6 points on the Richter scale, epicentred in Kahramanmaras Province in Southern Turkiye affected over 13 million people in 10 provinces, including Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye and Sanliurfa.