♪ >> this is dw news live from berlin. a massive earthquake has had parts of turkiye and syria, a second trimmer adding to the demonstration. even as night falls, crews are working to bring people out of the rubble. thousands are dead and thousands more injured. in syria, the reef -- relief effort complicated by the side

effects of civil war. the country's economy in tatters. international relief efforts underway. countries from around the world sending rescue teams and supplies to the affected regions. ♪ >> our viewers watching on pbs, the united states and around the world, welcome. two powerful earthquakes on the turkish-syrian border have killed more than 2700 people. rescue efforts continue, but the death toll is expected to rise. flights in and out of the region have been canceled. the initial 7.8 tremor was centered north of the turkish city of -- it caused destruction from the

mediterranean east were and parts of northern syria. an international aid effort is taking shape with the united states, the european union, nato, israel and ukraine. the first quake hit overnight. but, there was more to come. >> unspeakable loss and sadness have swept across southern turkey. >> my grandson is 18 months old. please help. we cannot hear them. we have not had any news since morning. please, they were on the 12th floor. we can't reach my family, my grandson. >> the two massive earthquakes struck within hours of each other. the tremendous force flattening homes and businesses. people living near the fault are used to tremors, but not like this.

>> we all came downstairs and there was heavy rain. people have been through horrible things. a relative of our friend is here. they have not been rescued yet. we are waiting for them. >> as searches go on, more of the missing or feared dead. the quakes were felt as far away as lebanon, jordan, israel and egypt. hundreds of aftershocks have -- rescue efforts. >> i am looking for the wife of my brother. two of my nephews are inside. >> hospitals are tending to thousands of injured, despite power shortages. 's the states natural gas corporation had to shut off the flow of gas after quakes met -- damage to the main pipeline. on top of that, more aftershocks and bad weather are expected. turkiye is turning to the international community for

help. u.s. president biden says it is on the way. other company -- countries, such as germany, have pledged support. it will take the area time to recover from the loss of life and widespread damage. >> for now, we go to dorian jones, standing by in istanbul. what is the situation right now in turkiye? >> with night descending, rescue workers are facing another enemy, the cold. temperatures plummeting below zero, coupled with snow and freezing rain. that poses a risk of hypothermia not only for those trapped, but for the many more others on the street whose homes have been destroyed or deemed too unsafe. all through the day, we have seen more buildings collapse. after more and more aftershocks,

along with this other powerful earthquake in the region. with each of these collapsed buildings comes a tragic story. this hotel was hosting two secondary school volleyball teams. that hotel is now nothing more than a pile of rubble. rescue workers trying to find anyone else alive. as of the hours unfold, more of these tragic stories are expect as the country braces itself are the worst crisis in living memory. >> the area that has been hit, tell me about how populated it is. that has a direct impact on being able to get heavy equipment into areas where they are trying to pull up big blocks of concrete. >> this area in southern turkiye is very densely populated. we had this massive powerful earthquake, one of the most

powerful to strike the country in decades. and a similar one hours later. it is an area that has 10 of turkiye's largest cities. this whole area is home to around 13 million people. all of these cities have been badly affected. whole streets have collapsed in many cases. this is putting a huge load of pressure on the emergency services. turkiye has experience with earthquakes, the whole country is prone to earthquakes, but has -- it has never faced the scale of 10 cities being hit simultaneously by this devastatingly powerful quake. this is pushing emergency services to the limit. there were calls for the military to be mobilized. emergency teams are coming to the area, but getting there is a problem. one of the major airports has been rendered useless. many roads have been destroyed by the powerful earthquake and following aftershocks.

getting emergency people there is a challenge. the scale of this problem means turkiye is reaching out abroad, looking for international assistance for help with what is expected to be days of huge emergency efforts to find anyone trapped in these hundreds, possibly thousands of buildings across the region. >> rescue workers being able to get to people, what are you hearing? there was a second quakes that happened hours after the first. there was enough time between these tremors for crews to get to the scene and they were basically standing on piles of rubble and the second one hit. >> that is right. for the rescue workers, they really are putting their lives in their hands. in many cases they are burrowing deep into these collapsed buildings to find people. it is really the only way. heavy lifting equipment is

impossible. because you risk further collapsing the buildings. when that happens and there is a powerful second quakes, many workers running for their lives as buildings all around them collapse. on top of that, over 100 aftershocks are continuing to shake already weakened buildings. these workers are facing a monumental task. a very dangerous job requiring a lot of expertise and bravery. going forward, they are facing difficult days ahead. >> dorian jones with the latest on the two major earthquakes in turkiye in syria. jonathan brass is an operations manager at the international federation of red cross and red crescent societies. he told me about the work being done by rescuers on the ground in turkiye. >> thank you for having me. you have heard how serious the problem is at the moment. at the moment, it is everything

from specialized equipment, which they are utilizing, to handing out kits, to ensuring there is communication for families looking for their loved ones. it is a spectrum. everything from finding people, which now the window of opportunity, we have seen in many cases people recovered. over the next few hours, it is critical. once we have people removed from the rubble, they need places to stay. they need food and clothing. everyone has lost much of their stuff because they have left their homes. many have not returned. the second earthquake then resulted in more homes collapsing. it is a spectrum of issues. >> you are in a race against

time because he want to find as many survivors as possible. your workers, what do they need right now and through the night? >> through the night, time is probably the most important t as you heard, it is hard to get heavy equipment in there. at the moment, it is ensuring that those who are on the streets, those who do not have homes are being looked after. those who are in the rubble, and now many thousands of people unaccounted for. ensuring that the workers have access to light and warmth to be able to keep working. >> what do we know about the situation in syria? people in turkiye, obviously turkiye has not been hit by civil war the way syria has. that makes the situation there, particularly in the idlib

province more dangerous. >> they are continuing here in turkey -- turkiye. there are millions of refugees coming from syria. again, the situation is very vulnerable. those who are still in syria, the situation they are facing is extreme just because of the fact that they do not already have resources, that they are living on the edge anyway. that said, the rescue workers are doing everything they can to ensure they are recovering as many people as possible and ensuring those who are recovered are accessing the assistance they need. >> jonathan brandt's, operations manager for the red cross and red crescent society. >> thank you. >> this quake is being called the strongest to pitch turkiye

in a century. i am joined by austin elliott, a geologist at the u.s. geological survey near san francisco bay. it is good to have you. how prone is this area between turkiye in syria to earthquakes? >> turkiye is one of the more earthquake prone countries on the globe. this earthquake struck an area that has been long known and understood to face significant seismic hazard. >> often we have heard there were reports of pre-shocks. you hear about aftershocks, but there were reports of f ore-shocks. does that mean there was a chance for people to get out of the buildings and save themselves had they reacted immediately after?

>> the fore-shocks to this event, i believe there was one earthquake around magnitude four. for the most part, earthquakes like that are common in the area and many seismically active areas. very few are followed by larger earthquakes. so unfortunately, there really is no predictive capacity with any given foreshocks of any given earthquake with a magnitude of four or so, like we saw in this case. you end up ascribing a foreshocks as a term to define these earthquakes after the fact, once a larger one occurs. >> so, you could be having a foreshocks but there is no way to know that it is a foreshock until you have the actual quake itself? there is no way to predict that? >> that is right.

there is currently no way to predict the time of any future earthquake. what we can know is where they will occur and relatively how often. the other thing we know which is currently being faced in the region now is that most large earthquakes are followed by aftershocks. in this case, the aftershock sequence is quite vigorous. we have seen hundreds of magnitude four or five earthquakes. a large magnet -- a large active shock of 6.7. the second quakes may nominally be an aftershock, but at a different fault near the initial quake that had a particularly large magnitude. >> we are talking about two devastating earth makes happening within several hours of each other. i am wondering if we are looking into the next 12-20 four hours and we know that aftershocks are possible, how safe is it for

people to return to buildings that may have been damaged? are we still looking at the possibility of a third major quake? >> what we do know is that there will continue to be earthquakes. the aftershocks seek rents from this massive event is going to last for months to years. people will be experiencing moderate intensity earthquakes fairly frequently. the frequency of those decreases over time. there will be less and less of them. that may have already been recognized by people over the course of the day. although shortly it feels almost continuous there on the ground. the prospects of other large earthquakes are low, but the potential always exists. in an earthquake prone place like turkiye, the reality of possible large earthquakes

exists. what we know from statistics and history is that for the most part, earthquakes are followed by smaller aftershocks. >> if i am understanding you right, it sounds like the people who are living in the area that has been hit are there in southern turkey and northern syria are going to have to learn to live with the possibility of a big one hitting similarly to how people react in the west coast of the united states. what can be the -- what can be done for them to be prepared? >> i suppose the morbid silver lining -- it is not really a silver lining. the morbid reality is that they're big one has just hit. this 7.8 is approaching the largest magnitude we expect within the continent. they have just suffered through

pretty much the worst case disaster. but of course, having another larger make nine hours later compounds the situation further. earthquakes of that magnitude are frankly unlikely. the possibility will always remain, just like in any earthquake prone part of the world. the best thing that people can do in the region, of course they are dealing with a lot, but people in other places that we know to be at risk of earthquakes in the future should look at this. if the situation alarms them, think about what they would want to do to be prepared should the eventual earthquakes strike them. there are a lot of resources people can look up with local agencies and local governments about how to get prepared for earthquakes and what is being done. >> fascinating how you are describing it. i am sure people got up yesterday morning and had no idea that they were about -- for

them what would be the big one. austin elliott, thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> in new york, the united nations general assembly has observed an end of silence for the ends of the earth lakes. u.n. secretary general antonio guterres expressed his condolences to the families and called on the international immunity to show solidarity. gutierrez says the u.n. is mobilizing to support the emergency response and that u.n. staff are already on the ground assessing how best to provide assistance. germany's chancellor olaf scholz has expressed his solidarity with turkiye into the ribs of the earth like, and has also offered help. >> i would like to say to all of those who have been affected by this terrible disaster, to relatives and friends, to the whole of turkiye, we stand in

solidarity. it is really very sad. they disaster on a massive scale. together with all of the others, we have offered help. we are coordinating it with the turkish government, but also all the others in europe and elsewhere who have offered help. >> along with help from germany, turkiye will receive assistance from a joint european union relief effort or donated from brussels. joining me now from brussels is -- with the european commission, spokesperson for humanitarian aid and crisis management. it is good to have you with a's tonight. we have seen rescue teams on the way. how does the european union plan to continue helping turkiye? >> good evening.

today is a difficult day both for turkiye and syria. here in brussels, we want -- we do whatever we can to mobilize assistance very quickly and get a search and rescue team on the ground. the whole day started by turkiye activating what we call the eu protection mechanism. that is the structure that has been designed to deal with natural disasters. turkiye has been requesting search-and-rescue team spirit today we have been -- teams. we have been working hard throughout the day. as a result, we have been able to make available almost 20 such teams from 17 european countries . they are on the way. in fact, some teams have already arrived. romania, bulgaria and hungary teams are already available on the ground. we are looking into the possibility of mobilizing

emergency medical teams, which is also part of the turkish request for some such -- request. there is a spanish team ready to go. one can expect that in the coming hours and days, more and more european personnel will be arriving in turkiye. nearly 1000 people. >> when you say these teams from the european union will be arriving help, are you implying that he will be able to assist people across the border in syria? we know the reality of geopolitics. >> when it comes to syria, the situation is different. as opposed to turkiye, syria has not activated the protection mechanism. we cannot act if that is not the case. we would only be able to send teams if we received a formal

request from syrian authorities. however, we can operate through our humanitarian operations in the country. obviously, the european union is the largest donor of any humanitarian aid in syria. since 2011, we have made available together with our member states more than 27 billion euro. we announced another 50 billion euros. what is happening now is that we are in close contact with our humanitarian partner organizations in syria. this means ngos. what we have learned from them is that they are reorienting in -- reorienting their activities now. the zone which has been struck by the earthquake and they are engaged in a wide variety of activities such as providing support, and also shelter. and also basic hygiene items.

in brussels, we stand ready to provide additional humanitarian aid which could be going to syria. >> i want to make sure i understand you correctly, for the people in northern syria, you would be able to send them assistance from the eu, but you would have to have a root quest that would have to come straight from damascus? straight from the government of bashar al-assad? >> there are only two ways in which we could help. one is if they seek assistance, which comes as a formal request from syrian authorities. in the meantime, we have proceeded through our humanitarian authority which has been implemented on the ground thanks to partner organizations we have in syria. through these organizations, we are able to channel in assistance, which on top of this we could also add a protection menace -- mechanism as we are doing in turkiye.

>> the european commission. we appreciate your time. we appreciate you telling us what exactly can be done. there are fears that ghana international soccer player christian -- could be trapped under rubble. media reports say the 31-year-old is missing. last september, he joined the turkish club. his former club, newcastle united, have said they are praying for positive news. manchester city have been charged by the premier league with more than 100 counts of violating finance rules. the english champions have denied wrongdoing. an independent commission will now decide whether to punish the club with possible sanctions including a points reduction or

even expulsion from the league. >> manchester city are the most successful premier side of the last decade. fueled by the riches of their owners, the city have won six titles. but now, their glory has been called into question after news came from headquarters that the club were being charged over more than 100 alleged breaches of financial rules between 2009 and 2018. the league, said city who boasts star players, had failed to provide accurate financial information that gives a true and fair view of the club's finances. after investigation, an independent commission will decide if city are guilty, and if so what punishment should follow. point reductions, fines and expulsion or among the possibilities. -- said last year he would quit the club if he found out he had

been lied to. >> i defend the club and the people because i work with them. when people accuse them, i ask of them, tell me that. -- ok i believe them. i said to them, if you lie to me then --. i will be out. and you wouldn't be my friend anymore. >> said he had already been in trouble with a european governing body over their finances. the club were accused of -- to limit net losses. after a two year ban overturned on appeal in 2020. city also believe they will prevail in this case, saying in a statement they were surprised by the charges. >> [indiscernible] >> they are in the running for another premier league titled this season but now face their biggest battle of the pitch. >> here is a reminder of the top

story we are following. a second tremor has struck the turkish-syrian border which was already reeling from an earlier mass quake. 2700 have died. the death toll is expected to climb amid destruction ranging from coastal syria to eastern turkiye. you can always get dw news on the go. download our app from the app store. that will give you access to all the latest news from around the world as well as push notifications for any breaking news you see happening. after a short break, i will take you through the day. stick around. we will be right back. ♪

óçóç

>> it is 10:00 p.m. in the french capital. the death toll continues to rise following a massive earthquake in southern turkey near the syrian border. nearly 3000 people have died and with thousands of billings flattened that number is expected to grow. rescuers are freezing in -- are working in fezing conditions frantically trying to locate survivors. there are scenes of hope emerging as rescuers pulled children to safety. the international community is mobilizing to help a region already wracked by war and