The government of Cuba expressed this Monday his “deep regret, solidarity and willingness to collaborate” with Turkey and Syria after the series of powerful earthquakes registered this morning and that have so far left more than 2,300 dead and almost 11,000 injured between both countries.
In a message shared on Twitter, the island’s foreign minister, Bruno Rodríguez, also expressed his “condolences to the families and relatives of the victims” and wished “a speedy recovery to the injured.”
Our heartfelt condolences to the people and government of Syria as well as our will to cooperate after the strong earthquake that hit the country and caused the loss of human lives and material damages. Best wishes for the prompt recovery of the injured. pic.twitter.com/eo2MOuQHd8
— Bruno Rodríguez P (@BrunoRguezP) February 6, 2023
President Miguel Díaz-Canel also sent from Twitter “heartfelt condolences to the Turkish people and government for the loss of life, injuries and material damage caused by the intense earthquake” and referred to the willingness of his government to collaborate in the care of the victims
According to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, some 45 countries have offered help after the devastating quake, “the strongest since the 1939 Erzincan earthquake.” The Turkish authorities have announced the closure for a week of schools in the ten most affected provinces, according to a report from Eph.
In Syria, embroiled in more than a decade of civil war, the affected area is divided between territory controlled by the government of Bashar al-Assad and the last opposition-held enclave of the country, which is surrounded by Russian-backed government forces. .
The first major earthquake was recorded at 4:17 a.m. (01:17 GMT) and had a magnitude of 7.8 degrees, according to the Turkish emergency service Afad, quoted by the daily The country.
Catastrophe in Turkey and Syria by earthquake of 7.8 degrees
Subsequently, several tremors occurred, one of them measuring 7.6 at 10:24 GMT. The quake was also strongly felt in Lebanon, including Beirut.
One of the symbols of the enormous destruction of the quake has been the historic Roman castle of Gaziantep, which had stood for more than 1,700 years and which has been leveled by the tremor, according to the source. The historic citadel of Aleppo in Syria, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has also suffered damage.
