Two devastating earthquakes of magnitude 7.8 and 7.6, the largest in the last century, shook central and southern Turkey and northwestern Syria on February 6. Authorities report more than 1,000 deaths, more than 2,000 buildings were destroyed in Turkey, including historically important structures.
The most significant of these is the Romanesque fortress in Gaziantep province in southeastern Turkey, which was built in the II-III centuries and expanded in the V century under Emperor Justinian I.
The Gaziantep Heroism and Defense Panorama Museum opened there last year, displaying artwork and memorabilia of the city’s military resistance to French and British occupation in 1920 during Turkey’s war of independence.
It is reported that near the fortress, the dome and wall of the Shirvani mosque, built in the 17th century, partially collapsed. And in the city of Iskenderun, the Annunciation Cathedral almost completely collapsed, local media reported. The Catholic Church was originally built between 1858 and 1871 by the Carmelite Order, and was reconstructed in 1901 after a fire.
Source: CNN
