[Satellite View] Many Places Were Severely Damaged After the Earthquake in Turkey

According to the latest news from the Turkish and Syrian governments and rescue departments on the 8th, the strong earthquake in southern Turkey near the Syrian border has killed more than 11,000 people in the two countries. The 82-member Chinese rescue team flew more than 8,000 kilometers on an Air China chartered flight and arrived at Adana Airport in Turkey at 4:30 a.m. local time on February 8 and was about to began International rescue.

After the earthquake, Chang Guang Satellite quickly coordinated and dispatched the "Jilin No.1" series of satellite resources, launched an emergency observation plan, and immediately collected high-resolution remote sensing data before and after the disaster to the National Comprehensive Earth Observation Data Sharing Platform and other relevant departments.

The satellite images taken by the Jilin No.1 satellite on February 7 showed that the earthquake caused damage to a large number of houses in the Turkoglu area of Kahramanmaras Province, and the damage was severe.

Turkoglu

Although the rescue force has been unprecedented, many buildings have been completely destroyed in the face of 3 strong earthquakes and at least 185 aftershocks.

After the earthquake, the local area issued an emergency notice asking residents not to stay in the building. Public facilities such as gymnasiums have also been activated as shelters.

After the satellite discovered the earthquake, a football field in Turkoglu was erected with densely packed tents as a temporary shelter.

The satellite found that the city that was also severely damaged was the Isrlahiye area in Gaziantep province. Comparing the satellite images taken by the Jilin No.1 satellite on November 6, 2022 (before the earthquake) and February 7, 2023 (after the earthquake), it can be found that in Islahiye, a small town in southeastern Turkey, dozens of buildings across the city collapsed after the quake.

Islahiye

A group of residential buildings in the city center were nearly razed to the ground.

Several large high-rise buildings have collapsed, and a large amount of debris is scattered on the ground around some buildings that are still standing.

From the satellite images after the earthquake, it can be found that the open space near the highway was crowded with vehicles coming and going.

The death toll from the powerful earthquake continues to climb in Turkey and Syria. Rescuers in Turkey and Syria are racing against time to find survivors under flattened buildings.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that this was the worst disaster in Turkey in more than 80 years and declared a three-month state of emergency in the 10 provinces affected by the earthquake in Turkey. Records show that the 1939 magnitude 7.8 earthquake in Erzincan, eastern Turkey, killed an estimated 33,000 people. The World Health Organization said the death toll from the quake could increase eightfold from initial reports, or more than 20,000 people would be killed.