Over 5,000 dead in Turkey-Syria quake ~ February 7, 2023

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A complex rescue effort is taking place along the Turkish-Syrian border, a region already battered by 12 years of the Syrian civil war and the refugee crisis it has created. Also in the news: President Joe Biden will deliver his State of the Union speech tonight to a divided Congress and we have everything you should know from Super Bowl opening night.

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Now, here we go with Tuesday’s news.

Over 5,000 dead after massive earthquake rocks Turkey, Syria

The death toll surged to more than 5,000 early Tuesday after a powerful, pre-dawn earthquake and series of strong aftershocks collapsed thousands of buildings along the Turkish-Syrian border. The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude 7.8 quake struck in the very early morning Monday about 20 miles from the city of Gaziantep. Hours later, a 7.5 magnitude quake struck more than 60 miles away. An untold number were believed trapped under the rubble of thousands of collapsed buildings, and the injury and death toll was expected to rise as rescue workers dug through the wreckage. Thousands of survivors were left homeless in the cold rain and snow. Read more

•How you can help earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria: These groups are taking donations. •Earthquake pulverizes chunks of nearly 2,000-year-old Turkish castle in Gaziantep.

Rescuers were racing frantically to find more survivors but their efforts were being impeded by temperatures below freezing and some 200 aftershocks, which made the search through unstable structures perilous. Click here to see more photos from the scene of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria.

Civil defense workers and residents search through the rubble of collapsed buildings in the town of Harem near the Turkish border, Idlib province, Syria, on Feb. 6, 2023.
Ghaith Alsayed, AP