evidence: Turkey earthquake: Before and after pictures show extent of destruction - Published [...] The first earthquake, which struck in the early hours of 6 February, was registered as 7.8, classified as "major" on the official magnitude scale. Its epicentre was near Gaziantep - a city of more than two million people. [...] In Turkey, more than 8,500 people are confirmed to have died, with tens of thousands injured and thousands of buildings destroyed.