Turkey, Syria earthquake death toll tops Fukushima nuclear disaster

More than 20,000 deaths have been reported in the aftermath of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria on Monday, topping the death toll of more than 18,400 killed in Japan’s Fukushima disaster in 2011.

Rescue missions are still underway in the region, but aftershocks and freezing temperatures have hindered rescuers and diminished the chances of finding more survivors. This staggering death toll has made it the deadliest earthquake in more than a decade, and the toll continues to rise each day.

An earthquake struck the Fukushima region in 2011, which then triggered a tsunami that together with the initial quake killed more than 18,400 people in the region. The tsunami’s massive waves damaged nuclear reactors, which resulted in a severe nuclear meltdowns, hydrogen explosions and nuclear contamination.

United Nations aid arrived to the Turkey and Syria regions on Thursday for the first time since the earthquake struck. The U.N. will be sending aid to northern Syria through Turkey and Damascus, the capital of Syria, said Geir Pedersen, the U.N. special envoy to Syria.

The World Health Organization warned of “long-term” impacts on health care after the earthquake, which can create a “crisis-on-crisis” situation.

Most of the deaths have occurred in Turkey, with officials reporting that more than 16,500 people have been reported dead. But, Syria is also facing a high death count, with more than 3,500 reported dead.

Turkey regularly experiences earthquakes, with some of them in the past also devastating parts of the region. In 1999, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake killed more than 18,000 people.

The United States Geological Survey said Turkey — along with China and Iran — is one of the countries that sees these most devastation from earthquakes.

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