ADANA, Turkey—Rescue efforts turned grim Thursday as fewer survivors were found amid the rubble four days after two devastating earthquakes rocked Turkey and Syria and people turned instead to burying the dead, now more than 21,000 people across both countries.
In Turkey, the death toll was 17,674 by late Thursday evening local time, according to figures provided by Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay to the country’s state news agency.
This surpasses the toll of a devastating 1999 earthquake that traumatized the nation and changed Turkish politics for decades. Authorities in Syria reported 3,377 deaths.
Thousands more people were injured as thousands of buildings collapsed when Monday’s earthquakes—magnitude 7.8 and 7.5
Strange scenes have been shared on social media from immediately prior to the earthquake in Turkey.
Social media users are commenting this appears to be HAARP, or some sort of EMP.
More strange footage out of Turkey right before the earthquake. The death toll is currently 11,000.
