Crews resume clearing Gaziantep quake debris

Crews removed debris on Friday as rescue works continued in the Turkish city of Gaziantep following a devastating earthquake. The 7.8 magnitude quake hit the border region between Türkiye and Syria, an area home to more than 13.5 million people, killing more than 20,000 people.

The death toll from the earthquake, which Turkish President has called “the disaster of the century,” has eclipsed more than 18,400 who died in the 2011 earthquake off Fukushima, Japan, that triggered a tsunami and the estimated 18,000 people who died in powerful earthquakes that hit northwest Türkiye in 1999.

The new figure, which is certain to rise, included over 17,600 people in Türkiye and more than 3,300 in civil war-torn Syria. Tens of thousands were also injured and many tens of thousands have been left homeless.