'We Are Afraid': Syrian Residents Sleeping Inside Cars Over Risk of Further Earthquakes

©AP Photo / Ghaith Alsayed

Syrians are afraid to stay indoors due to the risk of further earthquakes and have to sleep in their parked cars, local residents told.

Early on Monday, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck southeastern Turkey and northern Syria. Another 7.6 magnitude earthquake occurred a few hours later. The death toll from the disaster currently stands at 1,762 people in Turkey and 590 in Syria, with thousands of others injured. The numbers are expected to keep rising.

"We sleep outside, in the car," an Aleppo resident told Sputnik.

She added that the city had been seriously damaged by the earthquake and people were scared to return to their homes.

"We were lucky, our house is intact, although the furniture, crockery were badly damaged, the TV fell down. We could spend the night [in the house], but we are afraid," she said, adding that locals spend the time by helping to clear the debris and talking with friends and relatives over the phone. The situation in the city of Latakia is similar, the corespondent said.

"The city itself was not badly damaged, only a few houses were destroyed. The cities of Baniyas and Jableh were affected more, but, in Latakia, there are now all sorts of rumors about the dates and time of new tremors, although we understand that scientists cannot predict them that accurately," a local resident of Russian origin said.

Residents of Latakia are afraid to return to their homes as well. Despite heavy rain, they are spending the night in the streets, in tents or in cars.

"There are power outages, problems with the Internet connection, but, in general, people are holding up," she added. Earlier in the day, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the earthquake was the most powerful to hit his country in more than eight decades. Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Erdogan and Syrian President Bashar Assad in the aftermath of the disaster to extend offers of emergency assistance to both countries.

In addition, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu instructed the commander of Russia's troops in Syria to help the country's authorities deal with the consequences of the earthquake.