we re talking breaking news out of turkey where a major earthquake has struck the southern part of the country. officials say the death toll has now risen to at least 17. the u.s. geological survey says the 7.8 magnitude quake was centered east of nadagi in gaziant. p province. officials say multiple buildings have collapsed not just in turkey but also in syria. an aftershock with a magnitude of 6.7 struck northwest of the initial quake about 11 minutes later. a local journalist tells cnn there were up to eight very strong aftershocks in under a minute. let s take you now to cnn s jomana karadsheh for the very latest. more details coming in, jomana? reporter: we are starting to get more and more information, leila, coming from different parts of the country. we heard from the turkish interior minister saying they are getting reports from many places. at least ten provinces across southeastern turkey have been impacted by this major 7.8 magnitude earthquake. according to the
provinces. each of these provinces reporting some of the damage that so far has been assessed. and unfortunately casualties being reported. at least 17 people. and this is coming from two provinces, shamliarfa and usmania reporting 17 people who have so far been killed as a result of this earthquake. dozens of buildings damaged. and as we ve been reporting, countries across this region have felt this earthquake, from syria where now we re also getting reports of damage in different cities in syria as well. syrian state media reporting that a number of buildings, multiple buildings they say have been destroyed in this earthquake including an eight-story building in syria s hamah province, buildings in latakia, buildings in aleppo. reports of impact in regime-controlled areas as well as rebel-held parts of northern
the army was on the move in northern hamah province in central syria. the video posted by the free syrian army. following a week of intense russian and syrian air force strikes, it appears a ground offensive is underway in the area, an area far away from the zone controlled by the islamic state. but it s not easy going. at dawn, says this rebel field commander, there was an intense bombardment with rockets, ar till tri, tanks and russian planes, trying to smash our defensive lines but we held our ground. he claimed the syrian army was trying to advance on three fronts. also in hamah province, helicopter were in action, though it s not clear if the pilots are syrian or russian.