"An earthquake of magnitude 7.4 in the center of Kahramanmarash-Pazarchik, which occurred at 04.17 (coincides with Moscow time), was intensively felt in nearby provinces, especially in Hatay, Adana, Osmaniye, Diyarbakir, Malatya and Sanliurfa," the Turkish Emergency Prevention and Response Department said in a statement.
According to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC), the earthquake occurred at 01.17 UTC (04.17 Moscow time). The epicenter of the tremors was located 27 kilometers from Gaziantep, whose population exceeds one million people. The hearth lay at a depth of 10 kilometers, RIA Novosti reports.
In the city of Sanliurfa, according to the local mayor, 16 buildings collapsed, 15 people became victims. In Osmaniye province, according to preliminary data, 34 buildings collapsed, five people were killed, and Malatye - 130 buildings, the bodies of three victims were found.
Collapses also occurred in Kahramanmarash, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir and Malatya, the NTV channel reports.
According to the Turkish authorities, the earthquake was accompanied by 22 aftershocks, the strongest was magnitude 6.6.
According to Interior Minister Suleiman Soylu, due to the earthquake, the highest alert level has been declared in several regions at once, implying a request for international assistance. According to President Tayyip Erdogan, rescuers have already begun to eliminate the consequences of the disaster.
Severe destruction is also observed in neighboring Syria. According to the state TV channel "Suriya", many buildings collapsed in some areas of the city of Aleppo in the north of the country. The Syrian newspaper Al-Watan reported that several buildings in the Al-Arbain quarter in Hama partially collapsed. Firefighters and rescuers are working at the site, who are pulling victims out from under the rubble.
According to RIA Novosti, a building collapsed in the suburbs of Latakia in Syria, several more were damaged. "Residents of the city and some settlements nearby took to the streets, fearing that their houses would collapse due to aftershocks," the agency reports.
