Earthquake may have moved Turkey three metres, Italian seismologist says

Death toll in Syria and Turkey surpasses 8,000

Follow the latest on the earthquake in Turkey and Syria

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Turkey on Monday may have moved the country by three metres south-west, says the head of Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology.

“It is as if Turkey had moved to the south-west and Arabia to the north-east,” Carlo Doglioni, told Italy24.

The earthquake's death toll has reached more than 8,000, with almost 6,000 people killed in Turkey and more than 1,220 dead in north-western Syria.

Turkey sits above major fault lines bordering the planet's Anatolian Plate, Arabian Plate and Eurasian Plate, making it prone to earthquakes.

Dr Doglioni said: “What we call the Arabian plate has moved about three meters in a northeast-southwest direction relative to the Anatolian plate.”

He said more information was needed to draw a definitive conclusion.

Some tales of survival have been shocking, others devastating, even for White Helmets rescue members who have been operating for 11 years since the war in Syria.

“At least during air strikes, which have been horrific, we knew they would eventually stop and were targeting specific areas,” Hamid Qatini, a veteran White Helmets rescuer now working with peers in north-western Syria's most affected areas, told The National.

“Here, the damage is much greater and the feeling of helplessness is much stronger.

“They're both difficult situations, but the earthquake's devastation has been more difficult to deal with. Every time we rescue someone, we feel joy but we have seen very tragic scenes that will undoubtedly sink in later.”

As aid pours into Turkey, with the first batch of aid from Egypt and the UAE arriving at Damascus airport, the UN said it is temporarily halting aid into north-western Syria that flows from Turkey due to roads being damaged in the quake.

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  Humanitarian aid relief packages provided by Saudi Arabia being unloaded at Aleppo International Airport in northern Syria. AFP

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  An airline worker loads boxes filled with donations onto a Turkish Airlines aircraft at Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia. AFP

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  Syrian workers help to take the food supplied off the plane. Mahmoud Rida / The National

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  Displaced people lineup to receive aid supplies at a makeshift camp, in Iskenderun city, southern Turkey. AP

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  Belarusians collect humanitarian aid for earthquake survivors. AFP

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  Volunteers of a local non-government organisation 'Pomozi. ba' help sort and pack donations, in Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. AFP

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  Hundreds of boxes with relief aid are gathered at the municipality of Thessaloniki, in Greece. AFP

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  Nazli Goksoi helps sort donations at the Turkish Embassy in Washington, DC. AFP

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  Men in Cairo prepare blankets and clothes to be donated to people in Turkey. Reuters

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  Iraqi security forces with humanitarian aid from Red Crescent meant for the affected people in Syria, at a military airbase near Baghdad International Airport. AP

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  South Korean firefighters gather before leaving for Turkey to help earthquake victims. AFP

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  Algerian rescue teams arrive at Aleppo International Airport. AFP

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  Humanitarian aid for earthquake victims at a collecting point in Berlin. EPA

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  Umur Zamanoglu, a Turkish search and rescue team leader, outside Adana Airport. Reuters

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  Humanitarian aid to be sent to Turkey at Al Udeid air base in Qatar. AFP

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  Crews from the Los Angeles County Fire Department, including these firefighters from Pacoima, are joining a USAid mission to Turkey to assist with earthquake recovery efforts. EPA

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  Equipment belonging to Los Angeles County Fire Department teams is ready for the USAid mission to Turkey. EPA

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  At a military airbase near Baghdad International Airport, Iraqi security forces prepare Red Crescent shipments for Syria to support survivors of the earthquake. Reuters

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  Ground crews in Baghdad load a Red Crescent cargo into a plane that will leave for the earthquake zone in northern Syria. Reuters

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  Red Crescent shipments from Iraq are sent to Syria, where many earthquake survivors have lived through civil war in the past 11 years. Reuters

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  Members of The Olive Branches humanitarian aid delegation of the Israel Defence Forces prepare to fly from Israel to Turkey to assist in earthquake-stricken south. Reuters

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  The international earthquake response at work as relief supplies from Swiss Humanitarian Aid are loaded on a plane to earthquake-hit Turkey at Zurich Airport. EPA

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  Members of International Search and Rescue Germany board a charter plane at Cologne-Bonn Airport on their way to help find survivors of the earthquake in Turkey. Reuters

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  Relief supplies for earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria stand packed on Turmstrasse in the Moabit neighbourhood of Berlin. AP

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  Turkish residents of Berlin, with one the world's largest communities outside of Turkey, collect bags and boxes with warm clothes and other goods for a Turkish nursing service. Reuters

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  Polish firefighters at Rescue and Fire Fighting Unit No 9 in Lodz prepare to travel to Turkey. EPA

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  In Otopeni near Bucharest, Romanian rescue workers prepare for operations in southern Turkey. EPA

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  A Romanian rescue worker and search dog at a briefing before flying to southern Turkey to help local authorities in their rescue missions after the earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria. EPA