Building Collapsses in Turkey in Aftershock Earthquake

People run as a residential building collapses in an aftershock in Malatya, Turkey, following the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that rocked Turkey and Syria early Monday.

The powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocked wide parts of Turkey and Syria early Monday, toppling hundreds of buildings and killing more than 3,700 people, with more residents believed to be trapped under the rubble.

The epicenter of the pre-dawn earthquake was near Gaziantep, close to the Turkey-Syria border, and it was followed by a separate magnitude 7.5 earthquake about 100 kilometers (62 miles) north in the early afternoon.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, "Because the debris removal efforts are continuing in many buildings in the earthquake zone, we do not know how high the number of dead and injured will rise." He declared seven days of national mourning.

The earthquake struck a region enveloped on both sides of the border by more than a decade of civil war in Syria. On the Syrian side, the swath affected is divided between government-held territory and the country's last opposition-held enclave, which is surrounded by Russian-backed government forces. Turkey, meanwhile, is home to millions of refugees from the conflict.

Source: VOA