A major earthquake of magnitude 7.8 hit Turkey and Syria a few hours ago leaving at least 641 people dead and several hundreds injured. The death toll is still mounting. Dozens of buildings have collapsed and there are people trapped under the rubble. The death toll seems more in Turkey, where 284 people were killed.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the world leaders who reached out to quake-hit Turkey. “India stands in solidarity with the people of Turkey and is ready to offer all possible assistance to cope with this tragedy,” the PM said.

The killer 7.8 earthquake was centred north of the city of Gaziantep about 90 kilometres (60 miles) from the Syrian border. This is the region which houses millions of refugees from the Syrian civil war. The quake was felt as far away as Cairo.

Nearly 900 buildings were destroyed in Turkey’s Gaziantep and Kahramanmaras provinces, said vice president Fuat Otkay. A hospital collapsed in the Mediterranean coastal city of Iskanderoun, but casualties were not immediately known, he said.

The UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has repeated the earlier message from the foreign secretary, James Cleverly, that the UK is ready to offer assistance in the aftermath of the earthquake that has killed over 500 people in Turkey and Syria. He tweeted:

My thoughts are with the people of Turkey and Syria this morning, particularly with those first responders working so valiantly to save those trapped by the earthquake. The UK stands ready to help in whatever way we can.

Source: Indian Express & The Guardian