No report of Malaysians affected in Turkiye earthquake so far, hundreds dead

PUTRAJAYA, Feb 6 — No Malaysians were reported to be affected by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Turkiye’s southern province of Kahramanmaras early Monday.

Foreign Ministry (Wisma Putra) in a short statement shared via WhatsApp said the Malaysian Embassy in Ankara and the Consulate General in Istanbul are currently liaising with the local authorities for the latest updates.

“Thus far, our missions have not received any report of Malaysians involved in the earthquake,” it said.

The Malaysian Embassy in Ankara is reachable via phone at +(90) 312 4463547/ 48  or +(90) 534 4571006 (after office hour) or email [email protected]

Meanwhile, the Consulate General in Istanbul can be contacted through phone at +(90) 212 9891001/ 09  or +(90) 551 7112174 (after office hours) or email [email protected]

According to media reports, at least 76 people were killed and 440 others injured after a 7.8 magnitude quake struck southern Turkiye at 4.17 am (0117 GMT) Monday.

Turkish Interior Minister Suleymon Soylu said 10 cities were affected: Gaziantep, Kahramanmaras, Hatay, Osmaniye, Adiyaman, Malatya, Sanliurfa, Adana, Diyarbakir and Kilis.

The quake occurred at a depth of 7 kilometres, followed by second and third earthquakes that struck Gaziantep province, with magnitudes of 6.4 and 6.5, respectively.

Turkey lies in one of the world’s most active earthquake zones.

In 1999, more than 17,000 people were killed after a powerful tremor rocked the north-west of the country.

Neighbouring country Syria was also affected with 237 people killed and at least 639 injured as strong tremors hit Idlib, Aleppo, Hama, Latakia, and Raqqa regions.

NMT as reported by Bernama