More than 40,000 people have been killed and tens of thousands injured after a magnitude 7.8 followed by a 7.6 earthquake struck Turkey and Syria on February 6, officials have said.
Turkish authorities say 35,418 people have been killed in Turkey, while more than 5,800 people have been killed in Syria from the devastating earthquake, according to the UN and the Syrian government. The death toll is expected to rise as the countries undergo the daunting rescue efforts and searches through rubble from thousands of collapsed buildings.
According to Al Jazeera, 6,444 buildings were completely destroyed.
The survivors, many who are now homeless, face “a secondary disaster” as cold and snow lead to “worsening and horrific conditions,” the WHO said.
Survivors were still being pulled from the rubble across the country, but it was less and less likely that the people being found were alive. With freezing temperatures, and people being trapped under rubble for over a week now, it’s less likely that rescue attempts will find many more survivors.
A positive video of a little girl being rescued from the rubble has been circulating on social media.
The PKK, The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, has declared a ceasefire within Turkey in response to the disaster. “We call on all our forces that carry out military actions to stop all military actions in Turkey, in metropolises and cities. In addition, we decided not to take action unless the Turkish state attacks us. Our decision will be valid until the pain of our people is relieved and their wounds are healed,” senior PKK leader Cemil Bayik said in a statement.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said more than 141,000 rescue workers were on the ground responding to the earthquake in Turkey. Rescue workers have saved More than 8,000 live people in Turkey, Erdogan has said.
“We have more than 141,000 personnel, including foreign teams, working on the ground in 10 provinces. The Disaster Management Agency and other institutions are offering tents, containers, and prefabricated buildings, so that they can meet the needs quickly,” he said during a speech.
US-imposed sanctions against the Syrian government are impeding humanitarian efforts in the country following the devastating February 6 earthquake, UN official Mostafa Benlamlih warned. Benlamlih also warned against the “politicization” of humanitarian efforts in Syria.
The US has designated Syria as a State Sponsor of Terrorism since 1979. Additional sanctions were placed on the country in 2004 and again in 2011. The sanctions have effectively isolated the country from the rest of the world, making trade with other nations nearly impossible and has prevented the people in the country from accessing basic necessities, food and medicine.
The US has now allowed temporary easing of its sanctions to allow earthquake aid to Syria for 180 days. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo says, “As international allies and humanitarian partners mobilize to help those affected, I want to make very clear that U.S. sanctions in Syria will not stand in the way of life-saving efforts for the Syrian people. While U.S. sanctions programs already contain robust exemptions for humanitarian efforts, today Treasury is issuing a blanket General License to authorize earthquake relief efforts so that those providing assistance can focus on what’s needed most: saving lives and rebuilding.”
US Secretary of State Blinken claimed that Washington was the “leading provider of aid to Syria and the Syrian people,” despite also announcing a refusal to coordinate with the Syrian government, who control an area inhabited by around 70 percent of the Syrian population.
The UN warned that “very little” aid was reaching Syrian government controlled territory.
“As many as 5.3 million people in Syria may have been left homeless by the earthquake,” Sivanka Dhanapala, the Syria representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said. “That is a huge number and comes to a population already suffering mass displacement.”
Only 50% of Syrians had access to clean water before the earthquakes according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
“We are witnessing the worst natural disaster in the WHO European region for a century and we are still learning about its magnitude,” said Hans Kluge, the WHO regional director for Europe.
Photo by EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0