According to the Ministry, the number is constantly increasing as rescue efforts along with the removal of the rubble of dozens of residential buildings collapsed, as a result of the quake in the provinces of Hama, Tartous, Latakia and Aleppo.

President Bashar Al-Assad led an emergency meeting of the Council of Ministers to examine the damages caused by the tremor and the necessary measures to be taken to deal with the consequences of the disaster.

The Deputy Minister of Health, Ahmed Damiriya, announced the launch of a national emergency plan to send medical supplies to the most affected provinces.

Medical teams with 11 ambulances and 15 mobile clinics were sent to help medical personnel in the damaged provinces, the official said.

The earthquake shook the Alexandretta (Iskenderun) region, on the Syrian-Turkish border, at dawn on Monday.

According to the general director of the Syrian Center for Seismic Monitoring, Raed Ahmed, the tremor is the strongest recorded since the network’s creation in 1995.

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