How the earthquake disaster leveled Turkish cities: Striking before and after images highlight the extent of the devastation caused by a 7.8 magnitude tremor
Before and after images show the catastrophic effects of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit parts of Turkey and Syria today.
More than 1,700 people have so far been killed in the earthquake that shook eastern Anatolia overnight, destroying ancient fortresses and reinforced buildings.
News then broke of a second earthquake, which struck at 1:24 p.m. (1024 GMT), 60 miles north of the first.
The tremors of the first quake could be felt in neighboring Lebanon and Cyprus, and as far south as Egypt.
At least 2,818 buildings collapsed following Monday’s quake, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said.
The images show the effects on Gaziantep Castle, first built in the second and third centuries by the Hittite Empire, which arrived in Anatolia during the Bronze Age.
The castle was used for nearly two millennia as a Roman castle, an Ottoman fortress and more recently as a museum, before being damaged and collapsed in this morning’s earthquake.
Apartment buildings housing hundreds of people were pictured leveled, surrounded by debris, as search and rescue teams worked through the morning to remove trapped residents.
The historic Yeni Mosque in the large eastern city of Malatya, Turkey, which was a human settlement for thousands of years (L) then pictured covered in snow with damaged domes after the February 6, 2023 earthquake (R )
The Hittite Castle of Gaziantep, built in the 2nd century and used by Roman, Byzantine and Turkic peoples as a fortress for almost two millennia, pictured upright (L) and with extensive damage to its outer walls after the earthquake in today (R)
A multi-storey residential building in the Turkish city of Gaziantep is pictured in October 2022 (L) then leveled after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck overnight today (R)
The Latin Church of Iskenderun, the historic city of Alexandretta, in Hatay, pictured upright (L) and badly damaged by the earthquake which rocked the region on the night of February 6 (R)
Tall apartment buildings looming in the southeastern Turkish city of Gaziantep in 2020 (L) then surrounded by debris and cleanup crews, with cars under the rubble today (R )
The images show residential buildings in the Cukurova district of Adana (L) in April 2021 and a search and rescue mission in the debris of one of the buildings on February 6, 2022 (R)
The Ontur Hotel and residential buildings in İskenderun photographed on a sunny day in November last year (L) then the central buildings leveled, except for the hotel, after the earthquake (R)
