At 18:00 Beijing time on February 6, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake occurred in Turkey with a focal depth of 20 kilometers. So far, Turkey has three strong earthquakes of more than 6 magnitude in a day, at least 78 aftershocks, two of which reached 7.8 magnitude. At least 10 provinces in Turkey have been affected. The WHO's senior emergency response officer for Europe, Peter Smallwood, said the death toll from the earthquake in Turkey could rise to more than 20,000.

The earthquakes also sent tremors through Turkey's financial markets. Turkey's currency, the lira, fell to a record low of 18.85 to the dollar before recovering some of its losses. That's even lower than the Dec. 26 low of 18.844 lira to the dollar.

Meanwhile, Turkey's stock market plunged. Turkey's benchmark Istanbul Stock Exchange 100 index (. XU100) fell more than 4.8% at one point, and Turkey's Borsa Istanbul bank index (. XBANK fell more than 5%. The Istanbul Stock Exchange announced earlier that it had suspended trading in a number of stocks in the earthquake zone and suspended short selling; But trading was expected to resume later in the day.

Recent inflation figures show that Turkey's annual inflation rate was 57.68 per cent in January this year, which, while below the peak of around 80 per cent, is still well above market expectations.

Some financial analysts have pointed out that the tragic event of the earthquake in Turkey is the most likely source of increasing market uncertainty ahead of the Turkish general election in May.