Onlookers watch as rescue teams look for survivors under the rubble of a collapsed building in Syria’s Aleppo on February 6, 2023. — AFP/VNA Photo

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s Acting President Võ Thị Ánh Xuân sent messages of sympathy to President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President of Syria Bashar al-Assad over casualties caused by a strong earthquake in the two countries.

As of 6:00pm the same day (Việt Nam time), both countries recorded over 1,472 fatalities, including 912 in Turkey and 560 in Syria, and nearly 6,100 injured from the earthquake which has been the most powerful over the past nearly 100 years.

According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake occurred at about 4:17am (local time) with the epicentre located 17.9km in depth in Gaziantep province. It also detected another earthquake with a magnitude of 6.7 that occurred about 15 minutes later near the first location.

The Vietnamese embassy in Turkey said it has contacted local authorities to find out if there were Vietnamese victims in the earthquake.

First Secretary of the embassy Nguyễn Phú Tân Hương said following the incident, the embassy immediately contacted the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ departments in charge of immigration and Asia-Pacific, police and authorities of 10 localities recording casualties, including Kahramanmaras, Adiyaman, Gaziantep, Hatay, Diarbakir, Kilis, Osmaniye, Sanliurfa, Adana and Malatya.

Hương said the earthquake took place in the early morning when most people were asleep so that the number of casualties may be higher. The Vietnamese embassy is striving to gather information as soon as possible. — VNS