Turkey's Interior Minister, Suleyman Soylu, has said that the number of deaths caused by the devastating earthquakes in Turkey this month has risen to 43,556. The first earthquake on February 6 was followed by 7,930 aftershocks, which damaged over 600,000 apartments and 150,000 commercial premises. In addition, on Monday, a 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit Turkey's southern province of Hatay and northern Syria, killing six people and injuring around 300 others.
The recent tremors were centered near Antakya, a southern Turkish city, and felt in neighboring countries like Syria, Egypt, and Lebanon. This incident occurred just two weeks after the deadliest earthquake in modern Turkish history, which left tens of thousands dead. The 7.8 magnitude earthquake was one of the deadliest in this decade, caused by a rupture of over 100 km between the Anatolian and Arabian plates, with its epicenter located approximately 26 km east of Nurdagi at a depth of 18 km on the East Anatolian Fault.
Since 1970, only three earthquakes have registered above 6.0 on the Richter Scale in the area, according to the US Geological Survey. The recent earthquake marks the sixth most deadly natural disaster this century, following the 2005 tremor that killed at least 73,000 people in Pakistan.
India has extended assistance to Turkey and Syria after the earthquake claimed thousands of lives. India's government launched Operation Dost to provide aid to the quake-hit region, including sending emergency relief materials, life-saving medicines and equipment, search and rescue personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), specially trained dog squads, drilling machines, and other necessary items. Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted about India's role in the Operation Dost aid program, saying, "India is providing assistance to the two countries in the spirit of its age-old tradition of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam."