The violent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria on February 6, that killed nearly 5,000 people, has left a trail of destruction in both the countries. An airport in southern Turkey’s Hatay province saw its runway split into two after an earthquake. The airport had only one runway and the extreme damage forced the flight operations to be immediately shut.
A widely-shared video showed the runway cracked into two, with a man showing the destruction.
Over 4,300 people have died in Turkey and neighbouring Syria after a swarm of strong tremors near the Turkey-Syria border -- the largest of which measured at a massive 7.8-magnitude. Hundreds were still believed to be trapped under rubble, with the World Health Organization (WHO) fearing that the death count may shoot up to 20,000.
Hatay’da havalimanında Deprem sonrası pist bu hale geldi. Allah herkesin yardımcısı olsun inşallah pic.twitter.com/HuNetG5EZh— Ankara Trafik Radar (@ankara_cevirme) February 6, 2023
Rescue work was on to help people trapped in the rubble of buildings even as the catastrophe triggered a global response, with nations pledging relief materials.
More than 5,600 buildings have been flattened across several cities, including many multi-storey apartment blocks, after the earthquake. The disaster struck when residents were sleeping inside these buildings.
Earthquake impact on oil prices
The impact of the deadly earthquakes was seen in oil prices too. Oil prices pushed higher as Iraqi Kurdistan said it was suspending oil exports through Turkey as a precaution after the quakes.
