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ADANA, Turkey/DAMASCUS – More than 1,700 people were killed and thousands injured on Monday when a huge earthquake struck central Turkey and north-west Syria, pulversing apartment blocks and heaping more destruction on Syrian cities already devastated by years of war.

The magnitude-7.8 quake, which hit in the early darkness of a winter morning, was the worst to hit Turkey this century. It was also felt in Cyprus and Lebanon. It was followed in the early afternoon by another large quake of magnitude 7.7.

It was not immediately clear how much damage had been done by the second quake, also felt across the region, as rescue workers were struggling to pull casualties from rubble in bitter weather.

We were shaken like a cradle. There were nine of us at home. Two sons of mine are still in the rubble, Im waiting for them, said a woman with a broken arm and wounds on her face, speaking in an ambulance near the wreckage of a seven-storey block where she had lived in Diyarbakir in south-east Turkey. Embed Twitter Tweet URL Embed Twitter Tweet URL In Turkey, the death toll stood at 1,014 people, the head of its disaster agency said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said 5,383 were injured but he could not predict how much the death toll would rise as search and rescue efforts continued. He added that 2,818 buildings had collapsed.

Everyone is putting their heart and soul into efforts, although winter season, cold weather and the earthquake happening during the night make things more difficult, he said.

Live footage from Turkish state broadcaster TRT showed a building collapse in the southern province of Adana after the second quake. It was not immediately clear if the building was evacuated.

In Syria, already racked by more than 11 years of civil war, the Health Ministry said about 430 people had been killed and more than 1,000 injured. In the Syrian rebel-held north-west, a United Nations spokesman said 255 people had died.

In Diyarbakir, Reuters journalists saw dozens of rescue workers searching through a mound of debris all that was left of a big building hauling off bits of wreckage as they looked for survivors. Occasionally they raised their hands and called for quiet, listening for sounds of life.

Men carried a girl wrapped in blankets from a collapsed building in the city.

We woke up to a big noise and severe shaking. There were two aftershocks right after that, said 29-year-old Meryem from the south-eastern Turkish city of Kahramanmaras, near the epicentre.

I was so scared, thought it will never stop. I took some things for my one-year-old son and left the building.

Footage circulated on Twitter showed two neighbouring buildings collapsing one after the other in Syrias Aleppo, filling the street with billowing dust. Two residents of the city, which has been heavily damaged in the war, said the buildings had fallen in the hours after the quake. Like the apocalypse

In the Syrian rebel-held town of Jandaris in Aleppo province, a mound of concrete, steel rods and bundles of clothes lay where a multi-storey building once stood.

There were 12 families under there. Not a single one came out. Not one, said a thin young man, his eyes wide open in shock and his hand bandaged.

Mr Raed Fares of the Syrian White Helmets, a rescue service in rebel-held territory known for pulling people from the ruins of buildings destroyed by air strikes, said they were in a race against time to save the lives of those under the rubble.

Mr Abdul Salam al Mahmoud, a Syrian in the town of Atareb, said it felt like the apocalypse.

Syrian state television showed footage of rescue teams searching for survivors in heavy rain and sleet. President Bashar al-Assad held an emergency Cabinet meeting to review the damage and discuss the next steps, his office said.

People in Damascus and in the Lebanese cities of Beirut and Tripoli ran into the street and took to their cars to get away from the buildings in fear of collapses, witnesses said.

Footage from broadcaster CNN Turk showed Turkeys historic Gaziantep Castle severely damaged.

In the Turkish city of Malatya, a rescue worker crawled into a collapsed building, trying to identify a survivor trapped under the wreckage, in footage released by Turkeys Disaster and Emergency Management Authority.

What colour are you wearing? Are you wearing pink? Please take care of yourself for the moment, I cannot see anything else, the rescue worker could be heard saying. People injured in the earthquake receiving treatment at a hospital in Darkush, Syria, on Feb 6, 2023. PHOTO: AFP Worst quake since 1999

President Erdogan said 45 countries had offered to help the search and rescue efforts.

The United States was profoundly concerned about the quake and was monitoring events closely, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Twitter. We stand ready to provide any and all needed assistance.

The US Geological Survey said the quake struck at a depth of 17.9km. It reported a series of earthquakes, one of 6.7 magnitude.

The region straddles seismic fault lines.

The combination of large magnitude and shallow depth made this earthquake extremely destructive, associate professor of structural and earthquake engineering Mohammad Kashani, from the University of Southampton, said.

It was Turkeys most severe quake since 1999, when one of similar magnitude devastated Izmit and the heavily populated eastern Marmara Sea region near Istanbul, killing more than 17,000. REUTERS Rescue teams looking for survivors in the government-held Syrian city of Aleppo on Feb 6, 2023, after an earthquake. PHOTO: AFP A rescuer carrying an injured child away from the rubble of a building in rebel-held Azaz, Syria, on Feb 6, 2023. PHOTO: REUTERS Your browser does not support iframes, but you can use the following link: Link Embed Twitter Tweet URL Embed Twitter Tweet URL Embed Twitter Tweet URL More On This Topic Strong quake in north-west Iran kills at least three, more than 800 injured Second earthquake of magnitude 7.6 hits Turkey's south: Disaster agency

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Bulldogs’ reign over Vols continues with OT win

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Bulldogs' reign over Vols continues with OT win

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Georgia coach Kirby Smart lost four straight games against Tennessee as a Bulldogs defensive back in the 1990s.

After No. 6 Georgia came from behind to beat No. 15 Tennessee 44-41 in overtime at Neyland Stadium on Saturday, the Volunteers might feel like they will never beat the Bulldogs again as long as Smart is their coach.

After Georgia overcame a 14-point deficit and scored the tying touchdown and 2-point conversion with about 2½ minutes left in regulation, running back Josh McCray scored on a 1-yard run in overtime to give the Bulldogs (3-0, 1-0 SEC) their ninth straight victory over Tennessee and their fifth consecutive on the road.

McCray was initially ruled down at the 1-yard line, but the call was overturned by replay.

“I lost a lot of times here as a player,” Smart said. “It still sticks with me. I have a lot of memories, good and bad, about playing here. Five in a row is a lot.”

For a long time Saturday, it seemed as if the Volunteers (2-1, 0-1) would end their losing streak. Tennessee kicker Max Gilbert missed a 43-yard field goal wide left with three seconds to go in regulation that would have won the game.

The Volunteers had the ball first in overtime and gained only 1 yard on three plays. Gilbert kicked a 42-yard field goal to give his team a 41-38 lead.

“Unfortunately, he didn’t make the one before, but he had his head high,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said. “That’s the life of being a kicker, you know what I mean? I love the way he responded. He’ll continue to grow, and we have great trust in him. Unfortunately, he didn’t finish that one.”

On Georgia’s first play in overtime, tailback Nate Frazier ran for 21 yards to the UT 4. McCray plowed his way for 3 yards on the next play, then scored the winning touchdown.

The Bulldogs trailed 38-30 late in regulation. On fourth-and-6, Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton threw a perfectly placed 28-yard touchdown to London Humphrey with 2:32 to go. Zachariah Branch caught a pass and scored on a 2-point conversion attempt to tie the score.

“We were just going to take a shot there, and we needed to score fast,” Smart said. “We didn’t need to keep milking time. It felt like they were defending the sticks, and we were trying to get a touchdown. Sometimes, you get an advantage when people play the sticks and you’re willing to take a shot.”

Stockton completed 23 of 31 passes for 304 yards with 2 touchdowns and ran for another score.

“As you all can see, he’s a dog,” Georgia safety KJ Bolden said. “The whole team is behind him. He never let any of the scores phase him. Our defense kind of started off really slow, but it never fazed him. He always came back ready with a plan and ready to attack.”

The Bulldogs took plenty of blows early, especially on defense. The Volunteers drove down the field on their first possession, and quarterback Joey Aguilar scored on a 4-yard run. He threw touchdowns of 72 yards and 14 yards to Chris Brazzell II to take a 21-7 lead late in the first quarter.

“We talked about coming in here and conquering this place, which is not easy to do,” Smart said. “When you do something like that, you have to make your own way. You have to absorb blows. I don’t think I had any idea how many blows we’d have to absorb, but we did, and we’ve got a resilient group.”

Georgia’s defense bounced back from there, stopping the Vols on five straight possessions, including two interceptions. The Bulldogs scored 20 straight points to take a 27-21 lead late in the third quarter.

But then Georgia’s defense gave up another long touchdown — Aguilar found Brazzell for the third time on a 56-yard pass to give the Vols a 28-27 lead.

The Bulldogs went back in front 30-28 on Peyton Woodring‘s 24-yard field goal, before the Volunteers scored 10 straight points to go ahead by eight, setting up Stockton’s heroics late in the fourth quarter.

Aguilar completed 24 of 36 passes for 371 yards with 4 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Brazzell had six receptions for 177 yards.

“Losses never ever feel good, taste good, that’s not the expectation inside of this locker room, just to play somebody tight,” Heupel said. “I think the disappointment of tonight can be a moment, something in our journey together that can springboard and propel us if we choose to use it that way.”

Smart says his team is far from a finished product. The Bulldogs are still shuffling players on the offensive line because of injuries, and their inexperienced defensive backs struggled in coverage against the Vols’ high-octane offense.

The Bulldogs will get a week off before hosting No. 19 Alabama at home Sept. 27.

“We’re nowhere near where we need to be; we’re a long way from being there,” Smart said. “But, boy, we’ve got some kids that aren’t afraid to fight.”

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Aggies’ Anderson has feeling in limbs after hit

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Aggies' Anderson has feeling in limbs after hit

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Texas A&M safety Bryce Anderson has feeling in his limbs after being taken to a local hospital following a play that left him motionless late in the first half at Notre Dame.

Anderson was carted to the locker room with 55 seconds left in the half. His head collided with Notre Dame tight end Eli Raridon on a 25-yard completion. Teammates immediately summoned medical personnel, who spent about 10 minutes stabilizing Anderson’s neck. The senior from Beaumont, Texas, gave a thumbs-up as he left the field.

Texas A&M’s entire team came off the sideline and knelt on the field while Anderson was down, and several players came over to him before he left.

Anderson had four tackles in the game.

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Jazz on Yankees’ surge: ‘We’re the team to beat’

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Jazz on Yankees' surge: 'We're the team to beat'

BOSTON — The New York Yankees outlasted the Boston Red Sox for the second straight day Saturday, beating their rivals 4-3 in front of a sellout crowd at Fenway Park to expand their lead for the top American League wild-card spot to 1½ games.

The Yankees’ 83-65 record ranks third in the American League, three games behind the first-place Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East. With 14 games remaining, New York has an outside shot at claiming the AL East title and the league’s top seed for the second consecutive year.

But Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. doesn’t believe the standings accurately represent the league’s hierarchy. To him, the Yankees are the team to beat in the American League.

“I feel like any team that thinks they’re better than us, they should know that when we step on the field, that we’re coming with relentlessness and we’re coming to step on necks,” Chisholm said. “We’re not here to play around. We’re going to do the job and get the job done.”

After going 2-for-4 with two stolen bases Friday, Chisholm finished Saturday 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs to move within one home run of becoming the third Yankee ever to post a 30/30 season and the first since Alfonso Soriano in 2003.

He said a recent “talk” among the players that occurred away from the ballpark helped spark the Yankees’ recent turnaround after the team squandered a comfortable lead in the AL East in mid-June.

“Honestly, everybody just started locking in,” Chisholm said.

The Yankees are 13-5 since Aug. 24, a stretch that began with a win over the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. The success was buoyed by winning six of seven games against the Washington Nationals and Chicago White Sox — two of the worst teams in the majors — but it has also included the Yankees going 7-4 against the Red Sox, Blue Jays, Houston Astros and Detroit Tigers — four AL clubs positioned to reach the postseason.

New York will complete the four-team gauntlet with Sunday night’s series finale at Fenway Park, facing AL Cy Young Award candidate Garrett Crochet. It will be the Yankees’ final regular-season game against a team over .500; they finish the schedule with three games against the Minnesota Twins, three against the White Sox and seven against the Baltimore Orioles.

“All these games are super important,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “So, to get another win in this place against, obviously a really good opponent and Crochet waiting tomorrow, so this was a good one to get. Hopefully, we can go out and finish off a great series.”

Through Saturday, the Yankees are 45-43 against teams over .500 this season. They’re 26-29 against AL teams with winning records. They’ll have to be better in October to reach the World Series again.

“We said it all year long, that we’ve been playing to everybody else’s level instead of our own level,” Chisholm said. “We’ve been letting games go. We’ve been losing games ourselves. Making errors, just having poor at-bats and stuff like that.

“So, at the end of the day, we finally looked ourselves in the mirror and realized we’re the team to beat, and that’s how we’ve been stepping on the field for the last two weeks.”

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