action in what will be the biggest ever nhs walk out in england. we are still hopefully on track and getting waiting lists below a year at the end of march. the more strikes we have, the more challenging that becomes. at the moment, ourstaff challenging that becomes. at the moment, our staff are working incredibly hard to get the waiting lists down. let us know how the strikes are affecting you and do you support them? you can get in touch with your thoughts on this story and the rest of the days news by contacting me on twitter @annitabbc or using the hashtag #bbc your questions we re bringing you special coverage of breaking news this hour a powerful earthquake which has struck northern syria and south eastern turkey, killing more than 640 people. the tremor had a magnitude of seven point eight, and struckjust before dawn. the epicentre was in the turkish province of gaziantep but buildings collapsed hundreds of miles away, and there are also reports of many casualtie
in the north west of syria. our other main story this hour, ambulance workers join nurses taking strike action in what will be the biggest ever nhs walkout in england over pay disputes. we have been discussing this coming year from april s pay with the unions. we have the process - through the review pay body, it s an independent process, - and we are keen to get the evidence that reflects the pressure the nhs. has been under and the wider context in terms of inflation. the headteacher of one of the uk s top private schools has been found dead, along with her husband and 7 year old daughter. the first day of sentencing for david carrick here is how he carried out a catalogue of violent and brutal sexual offences hears how. and beyonce breaks records at the grammys and harry styles picks up album of the year at the music awards. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. more than 1,900 people are reported to have been killed by powerful earthquakes which struck southern tu
and turkey issues an international appeal for help. we ll be taking a look at how world leaders are responding. welcome to the programme. we begin in turkey and northern syria, where two powerful earthquakes have killed more than 2,000 people. many more injured and still missing. we ll look at the damage done and the rescue operations. first, let s see where this happened. the first earthquake had a magnitude of 7.8 the epicentre in turkey s gaziantep province. there have been almost 30 other shocks in the region, all powerful enough to magnify the damage. a second major earthquake 130km north of the first one. these pictures show buildings collapsing in south east turkey. the country has declared a state of emergency. here s president erdogan. translation: we do not know how far the number of dead and injured - will rise as debris removal works continue in many buildings in the earthquake zone. our hope is that we will recover from this disaster with the least loss of life
the democratic strategist mary anne marsh and david yelland, formerly editor of the sun, deputy editor of the new york post, and now running his own communications, advisory firm. welcome to the programme. it will take several days to develop a full picture of the devestation across turkey and north west syria. but it is highly likely the death toll, which stands at more than 3,500, will rise. the first earthquake of 7.8 magnitude, struck at 4.20 this morning, while most people were in their beds, 20 miles from the city of gaziantep. note the time strap, on the footage from this security camera. the shelves rattled continuously for over a0 seconds. and that gives you a fair idea of what was happening outside. the emergency teams say at least 3,000 buildings have collapsed across eight provinces in turkey. here s the before and after, the gazientep castle, walls that have stood for over 1500 years. in daylight, the badly damaged housing blocks were still falling. this one in
financial and social disaster. a region already destabilised by war, where another humanitarian crisis is unfolding. the worst case scenario is that people who weren t killed by the earthquake are killed by the failure to get aid to them after the earthquake. across turkey and syria, families were woken by a massive earthquake. this ten storey apartment block collapsed, the rubble trapping residents. my colleague, selin gerit, went to meet a woman who lived on the third floor. dilek s father and brother also died. the earthquake s epicentre was close to the turkish/syrian border. it was followed by a series of powerful aftershocks. 13 year old rola was at home injindires, north west syria, when it happened. this happened at a depth of around 15 to 20 kilometres. what this means is it s shallow enough that those first waves are really powerful, and if they reach the surface quickly, they still have a lot of energy and they can cause a huge amount of damage. in iskenderun, sout