“We wish Allah's mercy on our citizens who died in the earthquake in Kahramanmaraş and the surrounding provinces, and a speedy recovery to the injured. We wish our people under the rubble to be rescued as soon as possible. We invite everyone to lend a helping hand,” HÜDA PAR wrote on Twitter.

Early on Monday, a powerful earthquake struck southern Turkey west of the city of Gaziantep at 04:17 AM TRT (01:17 UTC), causing widespread damage in Turkey and Syria.

With a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent) and a magnitude of 7.8 Mww, it is tied with the 1939 Erzincan earthquake as the strongest earthquake to hit Turkey in recorded history.

The earthquake was followed by numerous aftershocks, the strongest of which had a magnitude of 6.7 Mw.

According to initial reports, more than 640 people were killed and nearly 3,000 injured. (ILKHA)