Earthquake of magnitude 4.6 jolts Turkey's Malatya

An earthquake of magnitude 4.6 on the Richter scale occurred 19 km SW of Malatya in Turkey, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) announced in a post on Twitter.

The earthquake was reported around 05:03:43 (local time) at a depth of 2 km at location 38.19 N and 38.23 E, the EMSC said.

The European Mediterranean Seismological Centre tweeted, "#Earthquake (#deprem) M4.6 occurred 19 km SW of #Malatya (#Turkey) 14 min ago (local time 05:03:43)."



CNN reported that the death toll from the earthquakes that jolted Turkey and Syria has risen to 20,783, citing authorities. The total number of injured people in Syria and Turkey has reached 75592.

A three-month state of emergency to speed up rescue and aid efforts in Turkey's earthquake-hit provinces came into effect on Thursday after the approval of lawmakers, Anadolu Agency reported

On Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the three-month state of emergency to speed up search and rescue efforts in the quake-hit provinces, as per the news report.

Thousands of buildings collapsed in both countries and aid agencies are particularly worried about northwestern Syria, where more than 4 million people were already relying on humanitarian assistance.

Countries and organizations from across the globe have responded to the crisis with money, equipment, and boots on the ground. The quake, one of the strongest to hit the region in more than 100 years, struck 23 kilometers (14.2 miles) east of Nurdagi, in Turkey's Gaziantep province, at a depth of 24.1 kilometers (14.9 miles), the US Geological Survey said.

As support arrives from around the world, the scale of the humanitarian crisis is becoming clearer and aid agencies are warning of the difficulties in both reaching survivors and treating the injured.