earthquake - The African Mirror

Feb

2023

Earthquake death toll tops 33,000, Turkey starts legal action

ALI KUCUKGOCMEN and HENRIETTE CHACAR RESCUERS pulled more survivors from the rubble, nearly a week after one of the worst earthquakes to hit Turkey and Syria, as Turkish authorities sought to maintain order across the disaster zone and began legal action over building collapses. With chances of finding more survivors growing more remote, the toll in both countries from Monday's earthquake and major aftershocks rose above 33,000 and looked set to keep growing. It was the deadliest quake in Turkey since 1939. Displaced residents in the Turkish city of Kahramanmaras, near the epicentre, said they had set up tents as…

Feb

2023

By The African Mirror

Amid rows of bodies, Turks check for relatives one by one after earthquake

WORLD

TURKS stepped over hundreds of bodies in stadiums and parking lots, carefully lifting blankets from their faces to try to identify dead relatives after a once-in-a-generation earthquake devastated the region. Nada, a Syrian woman, and her Turkish husband asked a staff member how best to find their niece and aunt among the more than 100 bodies lined up in the parking lot of the Hatay Research Hospital near the southern city of Antakya. "Check one by one," they were told. "My wife doesn't speak Turkish, and I can't see very well," said the husband, who did not give a name. "We have…

Feb

2023

By The African Mirror

Huge earthquake kills 2,700 in Turkey and Syria, bad weather worsens plight

WORLD

MERT OZKAN and KINDA MAKIEH A huge earthquake killed more than 2,700 people across a swathe of Turkey and northwest Syria on Monday, with freezing winter weather adding to the plight of the thousands left injured or homeless and hampering efforts to find survivors. The magnitude 7.8 quake brought down whole apartment blocks in Turkish cities and piled more devastation on millions of Syrians displaced by years of war. It struck before sunrise in harsh weather and was followed in the early afternoon by another large quake. "It was like the apocalypse," said Abdul Salam al-Mahmoud, a Syrian in the northern town…

Dec

2022

By The African Mirror

Magnitude 6.4 quake shakes northern California, leaves 2 dead, thousands without power

WORLD

NATHAN FRANDINO and STEVE GORMAN A powerful magnitude 6.4 earthquake jolted the extreme northern coast of California before dawn, crumpling homes and roads, rupturing utility lines and leaving thousands of residents without running water and electricity. At least a dozen people were injured, and two others died from "medical emergencies" that occurred during or just after the quake, according to the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office. The tremor, which struck at 2:30 a.m. PST and was followed by about 80 aftershocks, was centred 215 miles (350 km) north of San Francisco offshore of Humboldt County, a largely rural area known for…

Jul

2022

By The African Mirror

At least five killed in magnitude 6.1 quake on Iran Gulf coast

WORLD

AT least five people were killed and 49 injured by a magnitude 6.1 earthquake in southern Iran early, state media reported, with the area also hit soon after by two strong quakes of up to 6.3 magnitude. Some 24 tremors, two with a magnitude of 6.3 and 6.1, followed the 2 a.m. local time quake that flattened the village of Sayeh Khosh near Iran's Gulf coast in Hormozgan province. The most recent tremor occurred around 8 a.m., officials told state TV. "All of the victims died in the first earthquake and no one was harmed in the next two severe…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

Earthquake strikes central Croatia, killing six and damaging buildings

WORLD

ANTONIO BRONIC AN earthquake of magnitude 6.4 struck central Croatia yesterday, killing six people, injuring more than 20 and rattling several neighbouring countries, officials and residents said. Rescuers pulled people from the rubble of collapsed buildings in the town of Petrinja and army troops were sent to the area to help. Tremors were also felt in Croatia's capital Zagreb and as far away as Austria's capital Vienna. Slovenia shut its only nuclear power plant as a precaution. It was the second quake to strike the area in two days. The GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences said it hit at…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

Tremors felt in Cape Town after earthquake off South African coast

NEWS

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER A major earthquake, which registered 6.1 on the Richter scale struck offshore from South Africa, releasing energy equivalent to 1.9 atomic bombs, experts said. The earthquake took place 1600 km from Cape Town coast, at the depth of 10km, sparking fears of a tsunami. There were, however, no immediate reports of casualties or damage. Some residents of the southern city of Cape Town took to social media and the internet to share their experience of the tremor, which the USGS said occurred at 19h10, South African time. "Guys, we just felt a tremor in Cape Town. Our…