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Welcome to the Voice of America’s News Words.
A series pf powerful earthquakes rocked a crowded area of southern Turkey and northern Syria in early February.
Catastrophe
Thousands of buildings collapsed. Workers in some areas searched for weeks to rescue victims from the wreckage. Estimates are that at least 50,000 people died and hundreds of thousands more were injured in the catastrophe.
A catastrophe is a sudden event that results in extreme damage to complete destruction. It is an exceptionally severe disaster.
*This article has been edited and reprinted from VOA Learning English with permission from Voice of America (VOA) for use in English language materials.
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