Two years have passed since the devastating earthquakes that killed more than 53,000 people in Turkiye.

Axar.az reports that on February 6, 2023, earthquakes measuring 7.7 and 7.6 on the Richter scale occurred in the southeastern province of Kahramanmarash.

The tremors were felt in 11 provinces of the country and neighboring countries. The Turkish authorities called the earthquake the "disaster of the century."

As a result of the two earthquakes, which lasted just 105 seconds, a few hours apart, 53,537 people died and 107,213 people were injured. About 39,000 buildings collapsed during the earthquakes. Search and rescue operations were carried out in 26,000 of them. Among the dead were 4 Azerbaijani students.

The force of the earthquakes caused a huge 400-meter-long crack to form in the earth's crust in Hatay, two hills merged in Gaziantep, a village in the Nurdaghı district of Gaziantep split into two, and the Chighli village of Gahramanmarash slid 6.5 meters, and the Deghirmenkaya village 6 meters.

A level 4 alert was issued in the country, including international assistance. After this, search and rescue teams from 90 countries arrived in the earthquake zone to help. The first foreign team to arrive in Turkiye after the earthquake were representatives of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Emergency Situations. Azerbaijan sent 725 people, including 41 medical workers, to help.

The teams traveled to Turkiye on February 6 and participated in both search and rescue and other activities. The Azerbaijani search and rescue specialists, who continued their duties until the first week of March, were the last team to leave Turkiye. Our representatives rescued 53 people from under the rubble.

Damage assessment has been carried out on 2,302,000 buildings and 6,227,000 detached houses in the earthquake zone, and 91 percent of the debris clearance process has been completed so far. Construction of 307,000 buildings has begun in urban centers and villages where the earthquakes occurred. The keys to the houses currently being built in the region are being handed over to their owners in stages.