Search and Rescue Operations for Turkey Earthquake Effectively Ending Tonight

Transition to Survivor Support in Search and Rescue Operations
Interpretation That the Earthquake May Extend to Istanbul

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Eunha] Turkish authorities are expected to virtually complete the search and rescue operations for victims on the 19th (local time), 13 days after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck on the 6th.

According to Anadolu Agency of Turkey on the day, Yunus Sezer, head of Turkey's Disaster Management Authority, stated at a press conference, "Search and rescue operations will mostly be completed by the evening of the 19th (early morning of the 20th Korean time)."

As of this day, the death toll in Turkey due to the earthquake has been counted at 40,642. Including the death toll in neighboring Syria (about 5,800), the total number of fatalities far exceeds 46,000.

On the afternoon of the 10th (local time), buildings in the city of Antakya, Hatay, Turkey, collapsed due to an earthquake. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Since the first earthquake, there have been over 5,700 aftershocks continuing until this day. On the 16th, a strong aftershock of magnitude 5.2 occurred, causing additional collapse of damaged buildings.

Survivors who miraculously endured for more than 10 days after the so-called "golden time" of 72 hours for life rescue have been reported. A 34-year-old man and a 26-year-old man were rescued 261 hours after the major earthquake, and one hour before that, a 12-year-old boy was embraced by rescue teams. A 17-year-old girl was also found in the debris of an apartment 248 hours after the earthquake.

However, now that 13 days have passed since the earthquake, authorities seem to have decided to focus resources on supporting survivors rather than investing efforts in increasingly unlikely rescue operations.

Following this earthquake that struck southeastern Turkey, experts have also predicted that it could extend to Istanbul, Turkey's largest city. According to the Turkish daily H?rriyet on the 17th, recent local seismologists have stated that a 'destructive' earthquake could occur in Istanbul, located 15 to 20 km south of the North Anatolian Fault zone where the Anatolian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet.

Scholars have interpreted this earthquake as a "rehearsal" preceding a potential earthquake in Istanbul, suggesting that the potential seismic risk in Istanbul, in terms of destructive power and socioeconomic damage, is overwhelmingly greater.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.