Toll from earthquake rises above 5,000 as Turkey and Syria search for survivors
Thousands of buildings were destroyed in eastern Turkey and neighboring Syria by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake and multiple aftershocks on Tuesday, prompting rescuers to rush to the scene in hopes of finding survivors. However, the number of confirmed deaths has risen to over 5,000.
More than 24,400 emergency workers, according to Turkey’s disaster management agency, have been deployed to the area to assist with the rescue efforts. However, AP News reports that their efforts were dispersed because the earthquake on Monday affected such a large area and because nearly 6,000 buildings were confirmed to have collapsed in Turkey alone.
According to Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Agency, at least 5,606 buildings in Turkey collapsed both during and after the earthquake. Similar destruction has occurred in northern Syria. El-Mostafa Benlamlih, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Syria, has said that innumerable structures have already collapsed and more may still do so.
Colder than freezing temperatures and nearly 200 aftershocks made it dangerous to search through unstable structures to find survivors, noted the Associated Press.
Up to 1,500 buildings may have been destroyed in Hatay Province, which is located just southwest of the earthquake’s epicenter, according to officials. Many people also reported family members trapped beneath the rubble without help or rescue teams showing up.
In Antakya, the provincial capital of Hatay, Nurgul Atay stated that she could hear her mother’s voice through the debris of a collapsed building, but that their attempts to enter the wreckage had been ineffectual in the absence of rescue teams and heavy machinery.
“If only we could lift the concrete slab, we’d be able to reach her. My mother is 70 years old; she won’t be able to withstand this for long,” she desperately said.
Conditions in northwest Syria were described by witnesses as “terrifying.” In addition to “survivors sleeping on the streets in the freezing cold,” they declared that the earthquake “left entire families dead.”
The earthquake’s power was “biblical,” according to CNN journalist Eyad Kourdi, who was in Turkey and said it felt like someone was trying to topple him.
Per the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, more than 4 million people in the area where the earthquake occurred depend on humanitarian aid.
Women and children make up the vast majority. Search and rescue initiatives have been constrained by a “lack of heavy equipment and machinery to clear the rubble,” according to Benlamlih. This is on top of the catastrophe resulting from the earthquake, a continuing cholera outbreak, and a brutal winter with massive rain and snow over the weekend. A bloody civil war broke out in 2011, and since then anti-government forces have seized control of much of the region.
To help Turkey and Syria more quickly, the European Union turned on its crisis response system. According to ambassador Jeff Flake, the US plans to send two search and rescue teams to Turkey.
CNN reports that Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh has announced that rescue teams comprised of Palestinian civil defense and medical personnel will be sent to Turkey and Syria to assist with the current crisis. According to Iraq’s prime minister, his country will also send aid to those affected by the earthquake.
With more than 300 soldiers across ten units, the Russian army is assisting in search and rescue operations in Syria by removing wreckage. The most powerful foreign power currently present in Syria is Russia, and Vladimir Putin has long sided with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, supporting the Syrian Army with all of Russia’s military might.
According to experts, the aftershock in Syria damaged a number of archaeological sites. The historic site and popular tourist destination Gaziantep Castle in Turkey was severely damaged by the earthquake.
As of right now, we can anticipate an increase of over 20,000 fatalities.
Evie Blanco is a journalist with nearly a decade of experience who was born in the Dominican Republic and raised in Queens, New York. She is extremely well-versed in hip-hop music and culture and is always aware of any developments within it. Whether it’s the latest in pop culture, a fascinating foreign destination, a truly amazing new restaurant, or breaking news, she loves to write about it all.
This story was originally published February 7, 2023 at 10:01 AM with the headline "Toll from earthquake rises above 5,000 as Turkey and Syria search for survivors."