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7.0 Magnitude Earthquake Rocks Turkey: Rescue Efforts Underway
The massive earthquakes are compounded by decades of civil war in the region, which has created millions of refugees and a spiraling economic crisis.
Powerful Quake Rocks Turkey And Syria, Kills More Than 3,400
Share All sharing options. Deadly earthquakes in Turkey and Syria add to humanitarian struggles in the region
Cleanup begins after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Idlib, Syria on February 6, 2023. Images by Zana Halil/dia via Getty Images
The death toll from this week’s earthquake in Turkey and Syria has exceeded 20,000, making it one of the deadliest disasters in decades and adding to the devastation in a region already reeling from years of conflict and economic and humanitarian crises.
For years, Syria’s more than 10-year civil war has destabilized the region, which still suffers from an ongoing and chronically underfunded humanitarian emergency. Millions of people have been displaced in Syria or fled to Turkey, which is struggling with high inflation and a deepening economic crisis. The earthquake caused widespread damage and destruction in the most vulnerable areas of the region.
Turkey Earthquake: Woman And Three Children Rescued 23 Hours On
According to the US Geological Service, on February 6, around 04:17 local time, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 occurred near Nurdagh in the south of Turkey. Later in the afternoon, around 13:00 local time, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck, along with several strong aftershocks.
Thousands of people have been injured and thousands more trapped in the rubble, even as the chances of finding survivors continue to dwindle. Turkey has said that at least 8,000 people have been rescued so far, and search and rescue efforts are continuing with the help of teams from around the world. However, the freezing weather complicates rescue efforts and makes it even more difficult for all survivors to get in.
This disaster has hit an already fragile region damaged by decades of civil war in Syria and economic, humanitarian and public health crises. Turkey is facing a deep economic crisis, with a collapsing currency and extraordinary inflation that reached nearly 80 percent last year, the highest in 25 years. A survey conducted at the end of summer showed that almost 70 percent of respondents in Turkey have problems with food security. For years, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has pursued an unconventional economic policy that includes keeping interest rates low, leaving Turkey’s central bank with few tools to cool the overheating economy. The economic cost of the earthquake is not entirely clear, but the United States Geological Survey estimates that it could amount to about 2 percent of Turkey’s GDP.
This part of Turkey, including Gaziantep, which is in the vicinity of the earthquake, also hosts a large population of Syrian refugees. Turkey’s economic crisis has sparked a backlash against the country’s estimated 3.6 million Syrian refugees, who already face poverty, discrimination, increased violence and the risk of deportation.
Hope, Heartbreak As Children Pulled From Rubble In Turkey, Syria
The civil war in Syria is ongoing and has created one of the world’s most protracted and chronically underfunded humanitarian crises. The earthquake caused widespread devastation in northern Syria, including the latest rebel hold in the northwest, where hundreds and hundreds of people have died. About 4 million people there, many of whom have been repeatedly displaced from other parts of Syria, depend on international humanitarian aid. Most of this food and medical aid comes from one border crossing in Turkey that was damaged by the earthquake. The first UN aid arrived in northern Syria on Thursday.
Aid groups in the region fear the earthquake will deepen the humanitarian emergency. “Our partners in northwest Syria have reported that the situation is dire because the earthquake-hit area is the center of more than 1.8 million displaced Syrians who have already been affected by decades of conflict in Syria,” said Mercy Corps Director Kieran Barnes. In the statement of the director for Syria. “In northwestern Syria, 4.1 million people are already starving, and food insecurity has worsened since the start of the war in Ukraine, with prices of staple foods rising and some communities experiencing basic food shortages.”
More than 2 million people in northwestern Syria are also at risk of a deadly cholera epidemic. The outbreak began in northeastern Syria linked to contaminated water from the Euphrates River, which people relied on in part because of water infrastructure destroyed by years of fighting. About 47 percent of people in Syria rely on unsafe drinking water, a potentially greater risk after the earthquake caused massive infrastructure damage. In northwestern Syria in particular, the epidemic has strained an already strained and under-equipped health system, which must also find ways to treat earthquake victims.
“Many people in northwest Syria have been displaced up to 20 times, and health facilities are stretched beyond capacity. Even before this tragedy, many of them did not have access to the health care they desperately needed,” said Tanya Evans, International Rescue Committee’s Syria Director. the director. . , he said in the statement.
More Than 3,400 Dead As Powerful Earthquakes Rock Syria And Turkey
Ground fighting continues in northwestern Syria, as do deadly airstrikes, usually by pro-government forces, that have struck northwestern Syria. But for years, the Syrian government, with Russian help, has been destroying cities in and around northern Syria, such as Idlib and Aleppo, all of which have weakened and damaged buildings and infrastructure. Tens of thousands of people are already living in temporary shelters, camps or tents. “More dangerously, the bombing hit buildings that almost destroyed the infrastructure,” a White Helmets spokesman told the Washington Post.
The devastation is spreading beyond northwest Syria as the entire country has been wracked by years of war and destruction. International sanctions against Syria also aggravate the economic crisis of Syrians. The country faces record and widespread poverty and food insecurity. About 90 percent of Syrians live below the poverty line, and nearly 75 percent struggle to meet their most basic needs. The war in Ukraine, which raised food and fuel prices worldwide, also affected the Syrian economy.
Also in Syria, where pro-government and opposition groups control different areas, there is a risk of uneven access to aid and earthquake relief. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has few international friends, and while partners such as Russia and Iran have offered support, most Western governments are likely to back the UN and other humanitarian organizations rather than provide direct support. John Kirby, the chief coordinator for the National Security Council, said in a call Monday that the U.S. is working with “humanitarian aid organizations that we regularly work with to help them on the ground and in their efforts in Syria.” But again, the primary route for aid to Syria is now closed.
And across the region, the crisis remains acute as agencies and officials scramble to find survivors under the rubble and temperatures drop. The White House has described the situation as “fluid,” and many aid agencies are scrambling to fully assess the situation. The Guardian also reports that there are questions about the response capacity of many aid agencies in the region, with many based in places like earthquake-ravaged Gaziantep.
Dead And 400 Injured After 7.0 Earthquake Strikes Turkey’s Coast
Earthquake links disaster after disaster in Syria and Turkey. They are likely to exacerbate existing ones – displacement, food, economy and health – while creating new, unpredictable ones.
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R. Kelly received his second prison term for sex crimes. Here are all the allegations of sexual assault against him. Rescue teams try to free trapped residents from collapsed buildings in Adana, Turkey, Monday, Feb. 6, 2023. A strong earthquake toppled several buildings in southeastern Turkey and Syria, and many casualties are feared. Credit: IHA Agency via AP
A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Turkey and neighboring Syria on Monday, killing more than 3,400 people and injuring thousands as thousands of buildings collapsed and residents were left under piles of rubble.
Earthquake Death Toll Passes 5,000 As Rescue Efforts Go On In Turkey And Syria
Authorities feared the death toll would continue to rise as rescuers searched through a tangle of metal and concrete for survivors in a region wracked by Syria’s 12-year civil war and refugee crisis.
Residents, jolted out of sleep by the pre-dawn earthquake, ran into the streets in rain and snow to escape falling debris, while.
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