INEM has been put on standby and is available to participate in rescue operations in the areas affected by the earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria in cooperation with Civil Protection, the Health Ministry announced on Monday.
“The activation of the emergency teams will always be agreed between the European institutions and the authorities of the affected areas,” the Ministry of Health said in a statement.
The Minister of Health, Manuel Pizarro, expressed his “total solidarity” in the statement and deeply regretted the victims of the earthquake.
The Ministry of Health also emphasizes that it is monitoring the response to the catastrophe caused by the earthquake.
An earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale hit the border region between Turkey and Syria today.
Meanwhile, another earthquake measuring more than 7 on the Richter scale shook southeastern Turkey today, after an early morning tremor killed at least 1,300 people in Turkey and Syria.
According to the United States Geological Survey, the earthquake was recorded at 1:24 PM local time (10:24 AM in Lisbon), with an epicenter four kilometers from the Turkish city of Ekinozu, and an intensity of 7.5 degrees on the Richter scale.
Turkey’s disaster and emergency management authority said the most recent earthquake had an intensity of 7.6 and had its epicenter in the Elbistan district of Kahramanmaras province.
The early morning earthquake, which claimed more than 1,300 lives in Turkey and Syria, had an intensity of 7.7, according to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Dozens of aftershocks followed, affecting search and rescue efforts in the ten affected provinces.
Source: DN
