Two powerful earthquakes shook Turkey and Syria, the death toll exceeded 1800 people.

A second earthquake of magnitude 7.6 hit southern Turkey on Monday, within 12 hours of the first major quake that had already killed hundreds of Turkish and Syrians.

Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority said the second quake struck at 13:32 local time at a depth of 7 km, and its epicenter was in the Elbistan district of Kahramanmaras province.

The first powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.8 that rocked southeastern Turkey and northern Syria killed more than 1,800 people.

The death toll in Turkey has now reached at least 1,121, with 7,634 injured. This was reported by the Turkish state agency Anadolu.. During the disaster, about 2,834 buildings collapsed. Earlier Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the event the “biggest disaster” since the 1939 Erzincan earthquake.

State News Agency of Syria reported 371 dead and 1,089 injured in the districts of Aleppo, Hama, Latakia and Tartus as a result of the first earthquake. Sana’a’s figures are believed to reflect losses in government-controlled regions. The White Helmets Humanitarian Rescue Service, which operates in opposition-controlled areas of Syria, according to the latest estimates, the loss of lives in Syria in the region about 381, over 1,000 wounded.

The semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq temporarily halted export flows of its crude oil through the Kurdistan-Turkey pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan as a result of the earthquake.

“Exports will resume after a thorough inspection of pipelines is completed,” This was stated by the official representative of the KRG Loak Gafuri on Twitter..

European Union said in a statement that he mobilized 10 search and rescue teams in response to the tragedy: “10 urban search and rescue teams were quickly mobilized from Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, France, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland and Romania to support the first responders to the ground,” reads the message.

“Italy and Hungary also offered their rescue teams to Turkey. The EU Emergency Response Coordination Center is in direct contact with the Turkish authorities to coordinate further support if needed.”

The EU said it was also ready to offer support to Syria through its humanitarian aid programmes. EU Council in May 2022 expanded its sanctions against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad for another year, until June 2023, “in light of the ongoing crackdown on the civilian population in the country.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed condolences and offered assistance to Ankara and Damascus, This was reported by the Moscow state news agency TASS.. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement saying his country has received and will comply with requests for help from both Turkey and Syria, in a rare case of cooperation with Damascus, with which Israel has tense relations.