Turkey-Syria earthquake ripped huge chasm in what was once an olive field near Antakya | ITV News

After more than a week of covering the dreadful human effects of the earthquake in Turkey we decided it was time to see what impact the magnitude 7.8 had made on the earth itself.

We had heard of a rupture in the ground near the village of Tepehan in Turkey’s south-east Hatay province. The village is unremarkable; narrow streets with a few small shops and a mosque in the centre. Winding down the windows we asked a group of local men if they could point us in the direction of the crack in the ground.

As we rounded the bend we couldn’t believe our eyes. The land just seemed to end in a dramatic precipice, although it’s not until you see it from directly above that you can truly marvel at its scale.

What had been an olive orchard, practically identical to all the others in the agricultural land just outside the city of Antakya, had been ripped in two by the sheer power of the earthquake early last Monday morning.

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