Devastating Human Toll as Earthquake Hits Turkey and Syria

Deaths continue to climb and thousands of wounded seek care after one of strongest earthquakes in history and its continuing aftershocks. International community rushes to help.

A massive 7.8 earthquake struck Turkey and Syria at dawn Monday, killing more than 2,300 people as they slept, flattening buildings and causing tremors felt throughout the region.

The US Geological Survey says the temblor, a magnitude 7.8, occurred at 4:17 a.m. local time at a depth of 17.9 kilometers near the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep.

The official death toll from the most powerful earthquake in nearly a century in Turkey is expected to climb higher as rescue efforts continue.

In Syria, a country already destroyed by more than 11 years of civil war, the Health Ministry said at least 850 people had been killed and thousands injured in the cities of Aleppo, Hama and Latakia.

Rescue teams in both countries are still trying to rescue those trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings.

The head of Syria’s National Earthquake Center, Raed Ahmed, called it “the biggest earthquake recorded in the history of the century.”

A second earthquake was recorded in southern Turkey on Monday afternoon, with a magnitude of 7.5.

In Turkey, the death toll stood at least 1,541 people in the late afternoon, the head of its disaster agency said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said 5,383 had been injured but he could not predict how much the death toll would rise as search and rescue efforts continued. He added that 2,818 buildings had collapsed.

“Everyone is putting their heart and soul into efforts although the winter season, cold weather and the earthquake happening during the night makes things more difficult,” he said.

Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar Assad led an emergency Cabinet meeting to discuss the consequences of the earthquake, and discuss the next steps, his office said.

Damascus appealed to the international community to come to its aid after more than 900 people in Syria were killed in the quake.

“Syria appeals to member states of the United Nations … the International Committee of the Red Cross and other humanitarian” groups to support “efforts to face the devastating earthquake,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said the Syrian government was ready “to provide all the required facilities to international organizations so they can give Syrians humanitarian aid,” after meeting with UN representatives and aid groups.

In the Syrian rebel-held northwest, a United Nations spokesperson said 255 people had died. The casualty toll in that area was expected to increase, the spokesperson for the UN office for coordinating humanitarian affairs in northwestern Syria said. Reuters cites emergency workers as saying that at least 390 have died so far in the northwest.

“We have been dealing with weather events and snowstorms but nothing on the scale of an earthquake of this magnitude. It just adds on to all the layers of suffering,” said Madevi Sun-Suon, the UN spokesperson.

Director of Civil Defense in northern Syria, also known as the White Helmets, Raed Al-Saleh, told The Media Line that the situation in the areas affected by the earthquake was “very difficult” adding that the city of Aleppo is the most affected.

Saleh added that the civil defense in northern Syria faces huge challenges, warning that hospitals are overwhelmed, and his teams don’t have enough equipment, and what they do have is “debilitated.”

2/1ـ ارتفاع حصيلة ضحايا الزلزال في شمال غربي #سوريا لأكثر من 380 حالة وفاة وأكثر من 1000 مصاب وفرقنا بأقصى درجات الاستنفار والعمل لانتشال العالقين تحت الأنقاض والعدد مرشح للارتفاع بسبب وجود مئات العوائل تحت الأنقاض. pic.twitter.com/20ShVQ8WGf

— الدفاع المدني السوري (@SyriaCivilDefe) February 6, 2023

A member of the White Helmets, which operates in areas controlled by the Syrian armed opposition, told The Media Line that the group is in desperate need for assistance in order for them to continue their rescue operations effectively.

“We need help,” cried Ismael Abdallah, adding that “many buildings collapsed in different cities and villages in northwestern Syria and were destroyed by this earthquake. Our teams responded to all sites and buildings, and many families are still under the rubble until now. We are trying to rescue them, but it is a very difficult task for us.”

Rescuers battling the bitter winter weather used heavy equipment and their bare hands to peel back rubble in search of survivors, who they could in some cases hear begging for help under the collapsed buildings.

Hussein Akoush, a Syrian freelance journalist and researcher based in Turkey, tweeted that he lost two siblings in the catastrophe.

With a heavy heart and profound grief, I announce the passing away of my two nieces and their mother in last night’s earthquake.

The quake has toppled dozens of buildings in my town Al Atarib,resulted in the deaths of80people and150 injured,dozens still trapped under the ruins

— Hussein Akoush (@HousseinAk) February 6, 2023

“With a heavy heart and profound grief, I announce the passing away of my two nieces and their mother in last night’s earthquake. The quake has toppled dozens of buildings in my town Al Atarib, resulted in the deaths of 80 people and 150 injured, dozens still trapped under the ruins.”

The Ministry of Natural Resources in the Kurdistan Region in Iraq announced the suspension of oil exports to Turkey, due to the recent earthquakes.

The ministry said in a statement: “Because of the earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria, and to make sure of the safety of the oil export process, it was decided to stop the oil export process through the Kurdistan-Turkey pipeline.”

Several of Syria’s archaeological sites including a famed citadel in the northern city of Aleppo were damaged in the deadly pre-dawn earthquake Monday, the country’s antiquities authority said.

“Parts of the Ottoman mill inside the citadel” of Aleppo have collapsed, while “sections of the northeastern defensive walls have cracked and fallen,” Syria’s Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums said in a statement.

Footage on TRT World showed parts of Turkey’s historic Gaziantep Castle are severely damaged.

International community offers assistance

Erdogan said 45 countries had offered to help with the search and rescue efforts.

US President Joe Biden said he was “deeply saddened” and promised his country’s assistance Monday.

“I am deeply saddened by the loss of life and devastation caused by the earthquake in Turkiye and Syria. I have directed my team to continue to closely monitor the situation in coordination with Turkiye and provide any and all needed assistance,” the president tweeted from his official account.

Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to send teams to both countries in telephone calls with the Syrian and Turkish presidents

“In the nearest hours, rescuers from the Russian emergency ministry will take off for Syria,” the Kremlin announced on Monday afternoon. The defense ministry said 300 military personnel deployed in Syria were helping with the clear-up effort. The UK foreign minister, James Cleverly, said Monday that his country will immediately send emergency response specialists, dogs and equipment to Turkey following the earthquake there.

Cleverly tweeted: “The UK is sending immediate support to Turkey including a team of 76 search & rescue specialists, equipment and rescue dogs.”

Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said he had approved sending aid to earthquake-hit Syria, after receiving a request through diplomatic channels as Israel and Syria have no official relations. Israel “received a request from a diplomatic source for humanitarian aid to Syria, and I approved it,” Netanyahu told lawmakers from his right-wing Likud party, adding that the aid would be sent soon.

Syria’s government does not recognize Israel and the neighboring countries have fought several wars since Israel’s creation in 1948.

Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces was scheduled to send a 150-person aid delegation, including doctors and rescue workers, on Monday evening. Earlier on Monday, a smaller search and rescue team left for Turkey in order to survey the area and prepare for the delegation to get to work.

Qatar said it would send 120 rescue workers to Turkey, alongside “a field hospital, relief aid, tents and winter supplies.”

Emirati President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan offered “assistance” in telephone calls with his Syrian and Turkish counterparts, the official WAM news agency reported.

Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Monday pledged to make “every force available” to aid historic rival Turkey after the neighboring country was hit by the deadly earthquake.

He told his Cabinet that Ankara already had approved the dispatch of a Greek emergency rescue team and that Athens was ready to send “additional equipment, medical supplies, blankets, tents” depending on further Turkish requests.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered to provide “the necessary assistance” to Turkey, whose combat drones are helping Kyiv fight the Russian invasion.

The UN General Assembly observed a minute of silence in tribute to the victims of the earthquake and its aftershocks.

“Our teams are on the ground assessing the needs and providing assistance. We count on the international community to help the thousands of families hit by this disaster, many of whom were already in dire need of humanitarian aid in areas where access is a challenge,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.

The European Union has mobilized 10 search and rescue teams for Turkey after Ankara requested EU assistance, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and EU crisis management commissioner Janez Lenarcic said.

The EU’s Copernicus satellite system has been activated to provide emergency mapping services, according to the EU, which added that the bloc was ready to support those affected in Syria too.

India, Germany, Sweden, Poland, Canada, France and Japan have pledged to send assistance.