Turkey and Syria recently experienced tragedies from two deadly earthquakes that span the border of both countries. On Monday, February 6th, Kahramanmaras, Turkey and northwest of Syria got hit by two earthquakes with a magnitude of 7.8 and 7.5. Monday’s earthquakes were the deadliest quakes to hit this highly seismic region in 80 years. The earthquake left millions of people homeless and injured in Turkey and Syria in the middle of winter. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, in Syria alone, around 5.37 million people are in need of shelter. Several aid organizations and survivors are housing refugees in temporary shelters. The first earthquake struck before sunrise, followed by another quake in the early afternoon. The earthquakes took down buildings and “piled up devastation on millions of Syrians displaced by years of war.” Due to the earthquake, internet connectivity worsened and damaged roads between some of the worst-hit cities in South Turkey, which created difficulties in assessing the impact. The U.S. Geological Survey recorded the earthquake as the biggest earthquake since a tremor in the South Atlantic around August 2021. The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority stated that it is the country’s deadliest earthquake since a tremor of a similar magnitude in 1999. It caused major damages and devastation to the heavily populated eastern Marmara Sea region near Istanbul, killing more than 17,000 people.
Turkey’s death toll has now exceeded 22,000, with 80,052 reported injuries. In Syria, the death toll rose to 3,513, with 2,166 deaths in rebel-held areas northwest of the country, according to CNN. Mirjana Spolijaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross organization, has called for more aid to all parts of northern Syria. On Friday, he said, “What is most important now is that we gain access to all parts of northern Syria to help people who need our urgent support. Impartial humanitarian assistance should never be hindered, nor politicized.” This urgent call stems from northern and northwestern Syria being in a complicated long-running civil war between opposition groups and the Syrian government. The government approved sending aid to the rebel territories; however, no timeline was given.
The volunteer organization Syria Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, announced that they ended their search and rescue operations for survivors in rebel-controlled areas in the north and northwest of Syria and Turkey. After searching for more than 108 hours, the group believes no one is trapped under the rubble. The Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, stated that more than 141,000 rescued staff are working on helping the ten provinces in Turkey that got struck by the earthquake. According to the White House, the United States will increase its assistance to Turkey and Syria.
