TERROR IN TURKEY

Two catastrophic earthquakes in the Middle Eastern country have left thousands dead and several cities in a state of utter devastation

- NICOLA WHITFIELD

THE terror struck in the freezing darkness of pre-dawn, ripping the earth apart, crushing families as they slept, reducing neighbourhoods to rubble, and sending people screaming into a whole new hell. The first earthquake to hit the Turkey-Syria border region struck shortly after 4 am, affecting dozens of towns and cities already devastated by war, crippled by a refugee crisis, and reeling under economic hardship.

It measured 7.8 on the open-ended Richter scale and was felt by millions of people across Egypt, Cyprus, Israel and Lebanon. Several aftershocks followed - then, nine hours later, came another quake on the same fault line. This one measured 7.5 and the death toll rose and rose. At the time of going to print more than 2 900 people had lost their lives and thousands were still trapped under the rubble.

In one town sobbing relatives watched as rescuers tried to reach people whose voices could be heard within a ruined hospital. "Part of the hospital was completely destroyed, with each storey collapsed on the one above," The New York Times reported.