ISTANBUL: More than 2300 lives were lost in the sudden bolt of an earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria with a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale. In Turkey, 1500 people were declared dead while in Syria the number went to 800. The deadly earthquake shocked the senses of the natives and dreadfully enough, many fear that people are still trapped down these fallen buildings. The incident happened at 6:47 am IST. Turkey and Syria made fervent appeals to rush aid. India has assured a helping hand to these tremor-stricken countries with prime minister Narendra Modi condoling the deaths that happened due to the sudden tremblor. Turkey is often touted as a country more prone than any other in the world to earthquakes. In 1999 a similar fate encountered Ankara in the form of a tremblor that saw nearly 17000 losing their lives.