Earthquake drone footage shows depth of destruction in Turkish town

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Drone footage in the southern Turkish city of Kahramanmaras showed the devastation caused by the earthquake, collapsing dozens of buildings and forcing hundreds of families to live in tents erected in a stadium in freezing temperatures.

Empty buildings with their walls ripped open showed the power of the earthquake last week that devastated the city, close to the epicentre of the tremor that struck southern Turkey and Syria.

Two images, taken in 2020 and again after the earthquake, highlighted the trail of destruction in the city, with many houses turned to rubble. However, some apartment blocks survived with apparently minor damage, such as cracked walls.

The earthquake, with a combined death toll in Turkey and Syria exceeding 37,000, has devastated whole cities in both countries, leaving survivors homeless in the bitter cold, at times sleeping on piles of rubble.

More than 158,000 people have evacuated the vast swathe of southern Turkey hit by the quake.

(Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Janet Lawrence)