However, in 1999 there was another deadly quake that killed more than 17,000 in Turkey’s northwest.
One Kahramanmaras resident, Melisa Salman, said living in an earthquake zone meant she was used to “being shaken,” but Monday’s tremor was “the first time we have ever experienced anything like that.”
“We thought it was the apocalypse,” she said.
Many thousands of people have been injured – with at least 5,385 people hurt in Turkey and 2,000 in Syria.
Thousands of buildings have crumpled, and several videos show the moment they fell as onlookers ran for cover. Many buildings that were four or five stores high are now flattened, roads have been destroyed, and there are vast mountains of rubble as far as the eye can see.
Among the buildings destroyed was Gaziantep Castle, a historic landmark that existed for more than 2,000 years.
Turkey’s energy infrastructure has also been hit, and videos showed large fires in southern Turkey. Social media users claimed they were caused by damage to the gas pipelines.
