WATCH: Turkey earthquake drone footage shows fissures slicing through land

Combined death toll from deadliest quake in region in two decades that struck southern Turkey and Syria stands at more than 24,000

By
Reuters
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A view of terrain after a landslide that occurred in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake, in Tepehan, Turkey February 10, 2023.— Reuters
A view of terrain after a landslide that occurred in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake, in Tepehan, Turkey February 10, 2023.— Reuters 

TEVEKKELI/TEPEHAN: Drone footage in southern Turkey showed fissures slicing and cracking across fields, roads, streams and hillsides, caused by a massive earthquake that struck the region at the start of the week.

One jagged scar of bare and cracked earth, opened up by Monday's quake, cut deep into embankments and ran along expanses of open land up to the horizon near the town of Tevekkeli, in Turkey's southern province of Kahramanmaras.

Aerial view shows cracks in the ground in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake, near the Tevekkeli village in Kahramanmaras, Turkey February 10, 2023.— Reuters
 Aerial view shows cracks in the ground in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake, near the Tevekkeli village in Kahramanmaras, Turkey February 10, 2023.— Reuters

When it hit a highway, it smashed the tarmac and metal barriers. Huge boulders had tumbled down the hills on the side of the road.

Drivers had to wait in turn to navigate the fractured route.

Near the village of Tepehan, huge gorges cut through groves close to a house, leaving islands of grey-brown land and trees perched on the edge of new precipices. Other trees lay uprooted on their sides.

Mehmet Temizkan said the tremors woke him in the early hours of Monday morning.

Aerial view shows cracks in the ground in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake, near the Tevekkeli village in Kahramanmaras, Turkey February 10, 2023. .— Reuters
 Aerial view shows cracks in the ground in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake, near the Tevekkeli village in Kahramanmaras, Turkey February 10, 2023. .— Reuters

"With the initial panic, nobody knew whether we could leave home or whether we could survive. We lost hope. In the morning, when we saw what happened here, we said this must be the epicentre," he told Reuters

The combined death toll from the deadliest quake in the region in two decades that struck southern Turkey and Syria stood at more than 24,000 on Saturday.

Rescue crews saved a 10-day-old baby and his mother on Friday after they were trapped in the ruins of a building in Turkey and dug several people from other sites as President Tayyip Erdogan said the authorities should have acted faster.