UN, WHO dispatch forces, medical aid for quake-hit Turkey

ANKARA: The United Nations (UN) and World Health Organisation (WHO) in a humanitarian effort have dispatched emergency response teams and Medical Teams to Turkey for rescue and relief after a deadly 7.8 magnitude earthquake claimed numerous lives.

According to CNN, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) stated emergency response teams from the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) are sent to Turkey to assist the country in tough times.

Moreover, WHO's Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) are being mobilized to Turkey to assist in the humanitarian response.

The United States announced it will send two search and rescue units to Turkey, while the European Union launched its crisis response mechanism, as per CNN.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, 10 Russian army units totalling more than 300 personnel are cleaning debris and assisting in search and rescue efforts in Syria.

In reaction to the earthquake in Turkey, Japan has dispatched its Disaster Relief Rescue Team, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Monday.

"Upon the request of the Government of Turkey, and in light of humanitarian perspective and Japan's friendship relations with Turkey, Japan has decided to provide this emergency assistance to Turkey to meet its humanitarian needs," CNN reported citing the statement.

Turkey and Syria were hit by three consecutive devastating earthquakes of magnitude 7.8, 7.6 and 6.0 on Monday.

The initial quake of 7.8-magnitude was followed by dozens of powerful aftershocks, including one recorded at 7.5 magnitudes in the same fault zone of south-central Turkey on Monday afternoon.

Most of the damage is in southern Turkey and northern and central Syria. The death toll in Turkey and in neighbouring Syria following powerful earthquakes on Monday rose to over 4,000, the Washington Post reported.

It is the strongest earthquake to hit Turkey in more than a decade. Thousands of emergency responders have been searching for people amid the rubble of collapsed buildings, and medical teams have been tending to the injured.