An earthquake of magnitude 7.8 shook Turkey and Syria before sunrise in cold winter weather. It was the worst to strike Turkey this century. The epicentre was close to the southern city of Gaziantep, and tremors were felt as far away as Cyprus, Cairo and Mosul.
The Dutch Urban Search And Rescue Team (USAR) leaves for Turkey. This rescue team specialises in searching, rescuing and recovering people from under the rubble. The USAR team consists of search and rescue personnel, nurses and doctors, sniffer dog handlers, structural engineers, support staff and executives.
The Dutch USAR team consists of 65 persons and eight dogs. Turkey has asked for international help. Other countries have also provided rescue teams and aid, including the United States, Germany and Romania. The EU has activated its crisis mechanism. Foreign affairs minister Woepke Hoekstra tweeted the deployment of the USAR team in his handle. The royal couple also tweeted their support.
