THE damage of Turkey's devastating earthquakes that ripped a huge hole in the earth's crust has been revealed by incredible maps from space.
The powerful tremors catalysed the formation of the massive chasm, which is believed to have shifted the country by 10ft.
The death toll has soared to over 33,000, while thousands still remain buried under the rubble – and time is running out.
Big-hearted Sun readers have raised over £1million in response to the devastation as our Sun Earthquake Appeal soared.
To donate, visit redcross.org.uk/sunaid
PM Rishi Sunak praised Brits for pitching in donations, which are sent to the British Red Cross for a major on-the-ground mobilisation.
He said: "Sun readers have responded by doing what British people do best — reaching out to help those in need."
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Rescuers in Turkey are trawling through the dangerous debris to find survivors after the ground lurched in wake of the triple quake tragedy.
The movement triggered by the energy from the initial 7.8 magnitude quake, followed by a 7.7 aftershock and another 5.7 magnitude tremor, has inflicted irreversible damage on the earth.
Extraordinary satellite technology has now been able to precisely map the earthquakes' fault lines from space.
The European Union's Sentinel-1A satellite was launched through the atmosphere to help assess the scale of the destruction.
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Data acquired as it journeyed north to south over Turkey at an altitude of 435 miles concerningly suggested the ground had been completely warped by the natural disaster.
The Sentinel is equipped with a highly sensitive radar instrument, which can sense the ground in all weathers, day and night.
It picked up a dramatic change in conditions near the East Anatolian Fault line, in comparison to its last sweep over Turkey.
Buckling under the pressure of the first two quakes, the ground was shunted in a "left-lateral" motion by several metres.
The red colours on the map represent movement towards the satellite since it last flew over, while the blue shows the movement away from it recorded in its recent flight.
Rupture lines can be seen to have ripped straight through communities – splitting buildings in half.
The disaster, described as the "worst event in 100 years in this region" by United Nations chiefs, has completely fractured Turkey.
Processed by the UK Centre for Observation and Modelling of Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Tectonics (Comet), the map has proved a stark reminder of the strength of the quakes.
Director Professor Tim Wright said the Sentinel observations showed that the devastation spreads further than some may initially think.
He told the BBC: "News outlets always show earthquakes as 'the epicentre', as if it is a single point source (like a bomb).
'ABSOLUTELY HORRIFIC'
"Actually, all earthquakes are caused by slip on extended faults, and the bigger the quake the bigger the fault that ruptured.
"We can map those ruptures with satellites because the ground around them is displaced, in this case by up to 5m or 6m.
"The rupture of the first event was 300km or so long and the second big event ruptured another 140km or so of a different fault. To put those distances in context, London to Paris is roughly 345km.
"Damage will be highest near the fault but of course spreads over a wide region either side of the fault, too. It's absolutely horrific."
This area of Turkey is prone to earthquakes as it lies at the intersection of three of the tectonic plates that make up the Earth's crust – the Anatolian, Arabian and African plates.
The latest tremors are thought to have occurred on one of the major fault lines between the Anatolian and Arabian plates.
Terrifying drone footage shows the massive chasm in the earth's crust, showing entire fields covered in debris.
It comes as…
- Newborn babies were among those hauled from earthquake ruins as rescuers wept with joy
- A Turkish teenager was pulled from earthquake rubbleby Brit rescuers and asked for Harry Potter books
- Rescue work was halted by violent clashes and gunfire as looters run amok
- Harrowing earthquake images show mass graves marked with just numbers
- Desperate survivors made homeless by the quake are living in freezing conditions after their homes were destroyed.
- Heartbreaking video shows a little girl protecting her brother while stuck under rubble before they’re saved.
- Mystery surrounds the fate of former Premier League star Christian Atsu, who was buried under the rubble, amid conflicting reports.
- Love Island star Belle Hassan and her dad Tamer have lost family in the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria.
- Fears are growing for an entire school volleyball team trapped under rubble following the catastrophic earthquakes in Turkey.
- Claims Turkey had failed prepare for a quake “for 20 years” and wasted £3.8bn in emergency funds raised with special tax.
The enormous rupture now divides the land, while mountains of rubble pile up where buildings once stood tall.
Meanwhile, rescuers continue to scour flattened neighbourhoods searching the rubble for survivors, one week after the disaster as the number of casualties has reached 34,179.
Officials and medics said 29,605 people had died in southern Turkey and 4,574 in northern Syria.
And a UN chief has warned the death toll could dramatically soar to over 50,000.
Speaking to Sky, UN relief chief Martin Griffiths said: "I think it is difficult to estimate precisely [how many have died] as we need to get under the rubble but I'm sure it will double or more.
"That's terrifying. This is nature striking back in a really harsh way."
He added: "We haven't really begun to count the number of dead."
BEACONS OF HOPE
Heart-warming stories of survivors continue to emerge as rescue teams are looking for those trapped under the rubble.
A seven-month-old baby named Hamza was rescued in Hatay more than 140 hours after the quake while 13-year-old Esma Sultan was pulled from debris in Gaziantep.
"Is the world there?" asked 70-year-old Menekse Tabak as she was pulled out from the concrete in the southern city of Kahramanmaras, according to a video on state broadcaster TRT Haber.
A 35-year-old man named Mustafa was found in the wreckage of a building in Hatay in Turkey about 149 hours after the quake struck.
According to CNN Turk, the man was found by a Romanian rescue team.
One of the rescuers said: "His health is good, he was talking.
"He was saying, 'Get me out of here quickly, I've got claustrophobia'."
And on Saturday a teenage girl was pulled free by British rescuers and told them: “Please bring my Harry Potter books.”
After nearly five days trapped face down in the darkness, 15-year-old Ikbal Cil was prised free from beneath a collapsed ten-storey tower block in the southern Turkish city Kahramanmaras.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that almost 26 million people have been affected by the earthquake.
Haunting aerial images revealed the devastating aftermath in Kahramanmaras, Turkey, a city at the epicentre of the deadly quake.
Entire blocks have been reduced to rubble as thousands have lost their homes in the deadliest earthquake in the region in over two decades.
Authorities are said to have issued 131 arrest warrants for contractors over collapsed buildings amid claims they ignored safety regulations, the BBC reported.
Turkish police reportedly detained 12 people on Saturday, in the southeastern provinces of Gaziantep and Sanliurfa.
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Experts have warned for years that many new buildings were unsafe due to endemic corruption and government policies.
And while rescuers battle to find survivors in the debris, aid organisations had to suspend operations after violent clashes broke out in cities where 50 people were arrested for looting.
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