Turkey lives the greatest tragedy in its history.

An earthquake of magnitude 7.8 on the Richter scale shook southeastern Turkey and northern Syria early Monday morning, leaving so far a balance of 2,300 dead, more than 8,000 injured and an as yet undetermined number of missing; according to the report delivered by the Turkish Emergency and Disaster Management Authority (AFAD).

Nine hours later, a second 7.6 tremor struck central Turkey. According to the latest reports, 2,834 buildings collapsed with the strong telluric movement.

In turn, in Syria, the authorities have announced that the number of deaths reaches 820 dead, the number of injured people is yet to be determined. In the areas controlled by the Syrian Government, the deaths are 326, and more than a thousand wounded; while in the areas controlled by the opposition, fatalities total 147 and more than 300 injured; emergency agencies have reported about 405 collapsed buildings.

For his part, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has assured that his country is experiencing “the greatest tragedy” since the great Erzincan earthquake in 1939, which left 30,000 dead, and warns that the number of victims may be even higher.

Likewise, the authorities have indicated that they are searching for the player Christian Atsu, who is currently part of the Turkish team Hatayspor, and is also part of the national team of Gahna, his country of birth; so it is feared that he is buried under the rubble in the province of Hatay where there are a multitude of deceased.

In addition to Atsu, Taner Savur, sports director of Hatayspor, a team from the city of Antioquia, is also missing. Two members of the Hatayspor coaching staff have been rescued alive.