• Turkey has evacuated 28,044 residents from the epicenter of earthquake.
• With 23,437 evacuated by air.
• And 4,607 by road and train.

The southern Turkish province of Kahramanmaras, which is close to the epicenter of Monday’s catastrophic earthquake, has at least 28,044 residents who have been evacuated.

According to Turkey’s crisis management organization, AFAD, as of Thursday at 11:38 a.m. local time, at least 23,437 people had been evacuated by air and 4,607 by road and train.

The organization added that lodgings and guest homes are being organized by AFAD and province officials in a Thursday advisory that included information on evacuation centers for anybody who wanted to leave the province.

A little background: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, has acknowledged the “shortcomings” of his government amid mounting criticism of the state’s response to this week’s calamity and concerns over its readiness in an earthquake-prone nation.

Despite the fact that Turkey is situated over numerous tectonic plates, catastrophes like Monday’s are uncommon.

However, the public reacted angrily when stories of entire towns being completely destroyed by the strong tremors in the country’s north surfaced.

According to recent projections from the World Health Organization, the disaster might have an impact on up to 23 million people.

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