In what is being considered one of the biggest natural disasters in recent history, the earthquake in Turkey and Syria has so far claimed over 40,000 lives. Some 200 buildings were entirely shattered when a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Turkey on February 6. After over a week of rescue and search operations, several survivors have been pulled out of the rubble. On Tuesday, nine survivors were rescued from the rubble in Turkey. The disaster has ravaged cities in both countries, leaving many survivors homeless in near-freezing winter temperatures.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the quake “the deadliest such disaster since the country’s founding 100 years ago”. Erdogan said 1,05,505 were injured as a result of the earthquake centred around Kahramanmaras and its aftershocks.
Here are some top updates on the deadly Turkey-Syria earthquake:
- According to government figures, more than 1,58,000 people have evacuated the vast swathe of southern Turkey devastated by the earthquake. Even more fled in panic immediately after the earthquake, causing traffic chaos as they looked for passable roads. A Reuters’ report stated that survivors in other parts of the country are also evacuating, unsure of their return.
- The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has launched a USD 397 million appeal on Tuesday to help nearly 5 million survivors in rebel-held northwest Syria, AP reported. The area has received very little assistance because of deep divisions exacerbated by the country’s 12-year war.
- The UN chief and Syrian President Bashar Assad signed an agreement on Monday to open two new crossing points from Turkey for an initial period of three months in order to accelerate the delivery of aid
- Stepping up to help the people affected by the deadly disaster, Qatar donated 10,000 mobile homes in Turkey and Syria. These mobile homes in the form of cabins and caravans were used for accommodation of the 1.4 million visitors to the 2022 FIFA World Cup. According to Sky News, the Qatar Development Fund said some 350 mobile homes have already been sent to the affected areas in southeast Turkey and northern Syria
- Dog teams from around the world that had come to lend a hand in the rescue operations. A K9 team includes a dog, or dogs, that are trained to assist security forces and emergency teams in their operations. According to Aljazeera, these dogs have come from El Salvador, Germany, Mexico, Qatar, South Korea, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United States, among other countries
- According to news agency Reuters, over 300 Russian servicemen and 60 units of special military equipment have been helping Syria, Russia’s defence ministry said on Tuesday. Food packages and disinfectants as well as other essentials have also been delivered to humanitarian aid points in the northwestern city of Aleppo, the ministry added
- The United Nations has said that more than seven million children have been affected by the massive earthquake and a major aftershock, voicing fear that “many thousands” more had died. Spokesman for UNICEF James Elder said, “In Turkey, the total number of children living in the 10 provinces hit by the two earthquakes was 4.6 million children. In Syria, 2.5 million children are affected.”