Major tourism hubs were not affected as a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit the city of Gaziantep in southeast Turkey on Monday followed by a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Elbistan, Kahramanmaras near the Syrian border.
The earthquake epicentre, Gaziantep, in the country’s southeast, is located quite a distance from Turkey’s main tourism hubs.
It lies 823km east of the southern port of Antalya and 1,139km southeast of the capital, Istanbul. Domestic airports in the vicinity are closed, however no international flights have been reported as cancelled.
The Australian government advises travellers in Turkey to prepare for aftershocks in the area and to follow the directions of local authorities.
Industry response
Tour operators such as G Adventures, Intrepid Travel and Explore Worldwide were not running trips in the affected areas of Turkey.
In a statement, tour provider G Adventures told Karryon: “Following the earthquake in Turkey, G Adventures can confirm the wellbeing of all of its travellers and staff.”
“No G Adventures tours visit the affected regions and trips will continue to operate as normal.
Our thoughts are with all those affected by the earthquake.”
While it leads tours in Turkey, Explore Worldwide has confirmed it does not operate trips in the affected region.
“The scenes in the aftermath of the earthquake in Turkey are heartbreaking,” Explore’s Regional Director, Australia and New Zealand Ben Ittensohn told Karryon. “Our thoughts are with the people in Turkey.”
Intrepid Travel also confirmed all of its customers currently in the country were safe and accounted for after the devastating earthquake.
“As it is the low season in Türkiye, Intrepid Travel only had one group in Gallipoli at the time of the earthquake, on the opposite side of the country from the earthquake’s epicenter. This group will continue on their itinerary through unaffected areas of Türkiye,” said a statement from Intrepid, which runs 30 tours in Turkey.
“Customer safety is Intrepid’s number one priority and the company is closely assessing government travel advisories, however there are no significant changes to future departures at this stage.”
Quakes some of the biggest in a century
The devastating effects have seen a death toll of more than 3,700 in Turkey and 1,293 in Syria with more than 12,000 people reported as injured.
Meanwhile, an initial Turkish assessment showed almost 3,000 buildings had been destroyed across the affected areas in the first big quake, which was centred on the southern Turkish province of Kahramanmaraş, near the Syrian border.
The earthquakes represent some of the biggest to hit the region in almost a century.
More than 45 countries pledged to send experts and aid to help rescue efforts in the unfolding humanitarian crisis.
For the latest travel advice, visit smartraveller.gov.au
Via ABC News
