Death toll from a massive earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria rose above 7,100 on Tuesday, official data showed, with rescue workers still searching for trapped survivors, AFP reports.

Officials and medics said 5,434 people have died in Turkey and 1,712 in Syria, bringing the total to 7,146.

The huge earthquake on Monday killed thousands of people across a swathe of Turkey.

The magnitude 7.8 quake brought down whole apartment blocks in Turkish cities, described as the worst tremor to strike Turkey in the 21st century.

 Tragedy foretold

A Nigerian student in Turkey, Olasupo Caleb, in an interview with The PUNCH on Tuesday noted that students in the transcontinental country were warned of an impending earthquake in 2022.

Olasupo, who is a student of Political Science at the Gaziosmanpasa University, also is the President of the National Association of Nigerian Students in Turkey.

He said, “10 provinces were affected although this is the first time many Nigerian students are seeing these treble earthquakes, and right from last year, we have been practising earthquake precautions announced by Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency AFAD in Turkey.

“Now, Nigerian students here are safe, although many are still scared of what is going to happen, as a union, we have tried to reach out to students in the affected area and we are still reaching out to know what is going on with others.”

“Also, we have implored all our students to remain calm and also follow some of the laid down precautions given by local authorities and AFAD.”

Olasupo noted that precaution training was organised in 2022 by the Turkish government.

No Nigerian casualties

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Ambassador to the Republic of Turkey, Ismail Yusuf, has said no Nigerian was recorded among the casualties of the earthquake.

Yusuf, who stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday, noted that the Embassy is on the alert to know the state of every registered Nigerian in the country.