A newborn baby has been rescued from the rubble of his Syrian home after the worst earthquake in a century. NPR and other outlets reported on Tuesday.
“When we were digging, we heard voices,” cousin Khalil Al-Swadi told Agence France-Presse. “We cleared the dust and found the baby with the umbilical cord so we cut it off and my cousin took her to the hospital.” NBC News report.
The baby and deceased mother were reportedly still attached by the umbilical cord when rescuers freed the infant from the debris.
The baby’s family, including his mother, father, four siblings and an aunt, did not survive, a cousin told AFP.
A family’s home in Jinderis, Syria, near the Turkish border, collapsed after an earthquake struck early Monday morning.
Another child named Nour was rescued from under rubble and twisted rebar in the same small town in northwestern Syria. Associated Press reported on Tuesday.
Nour, who looks like an infant, has been trapped all day. In the AP’s video, the silent but wary Noor is carefully extracted from the collapsed building by rescuers who were digging her out with her hands at that point in the video.
The earthquake injured tens of thousands and killed more than 7,000. CNN reported on Tuesday.
A powerful earthquake struck the region around 4 a.m. local time on Monday. A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck near Nuruda, Turkey, along the Turkish-Syrian border. U.S. Geological SurveyA magnitude 6.7 aftershock hit the area just 11 minutes later, according to the USGS.
USGS observations show that the initial earthquake and aftershocks occurred within the East Anatolian fault system. This region is a tectonically active junction where three tectonic plates touch and interact.
As of 10:30 p.m. local time on Monday, approximately 30 aftershocks of magnitude 4.5 or greater were recorded in the region.
Only three earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater have been recorded in the region in the past half century, according to the USGS.
USGS scientist David Wald said in a statement, “It’s hard to see this tragedy unfold, especially since we’ve known for a long time that buildings in the area weren’t designed to withstand earthquakes.
“Earthquakes of this magnitude can damage anywhere in the world, but many structures in this region are particularly vulnerable,” Wald added.
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