Türkiye earthquake death toll exceeds 20,000 people

At least 20,665 people were killed and 80,088 others injured by two strong earthquakes that jolted southern Türkiye on Monday, the country's disaster agency said.

More than 166,000 search and rescue personnel are currently working in the field, according to the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD).

Almost 92,700 people have been evacuated from quake-hit regions so far, AFAD said.

Syria

The death toll of the earthquake in Syria has increased to 1,387, according to the Syrian Health Ministry. According to the Ministry, a total of 2,326 people were injured.

Poor construction caused buildings to collapse?

Turkey's justice minister announced that a judicial investigation had been initiated over collapsed buildings during the quake. The probe will seek to hold to account those who built the buildings or bore any responsibility for their collapse in the 10 worst-affected provinces.

The owner of the apartment complex destroyed by the earthquake in southeast Turkey's Hatay province was detained at an Istanbul airport on Friday while trying to leave the country. He was stopped at Sabiha Gokcen airport attempting to travel to Montenegro. The 12-storey Renaissance complex was completely toppled after a 7.8-magnitude quake struck Gaziantep.

Powerful 7.7-and 7.6-magnitude earthquakes rocked Turkey’s Kahramanmaras province on Monday. The tremors, followed by hundreds of aftershocks, were felt in 10 provinces as well as in neighboring countries, of which Syria was hardest hit.