Members of the European Parliament on Monday (February 13) observed a minute of silence for the victims of a 7.8 magnitude quake that left at least 37,000 people dead in Turkey and Syria.
"Our thoughts are with the families of those killed, those trapped, those injured, and with all the rescuers fighting the clock night and day to save lives," E.U. Parliament President Roberta Metsola told the chamber before the start of the debates.
Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority said that the deadliest quake in Turkey since 1939 has killed 31,643 people there and evacuated 160,000 from the quake zone.
More than 4,300 people were reported dead and 7,600 injured in northwest Syria as of Sunday, said a U.N. agency. Combined with the toll reported from government-held parts of the country, it takes the number of people reported killed in Syria to more than 5,714.
The quake is now the sixth most deadly natural disaster this century, behind the 2005 tremor that killed at least 73,000 in Pakistan.
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