7.9 magnitude earthquake hits southern Turkey, more than 50 people killed

A strong earthquake of magnitude 7.9 struck southern Turkey early today, killing more than 50 people and collapsing dozens of buildings.

The quake struck at a depth of 10 km near the southern Turkish city of Kahramanmaras. Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority said, the quake also hit the city of Gaziantep, close to the Syrian border. Syrian state media said, a large number of buildings collapsed in the province of Aleppo. People in Damascus, as well as in the Lebanese cities of Beirut and Tripoli ran into the street on foot and took to their cars to get away from their buildings in case of collapses.