On February 6, a deadly earthquake of magnitude 7.8 on the Richter scale struck the Turkish city of Kahramanmaras and heavily affected the surrounding area. Another earthquake, known as an aftershock, of magnitude 7.7 followed. As of March 13, around 55 thousand people have died as a result of the quake.
The United States government pledged support immediately after the earthquake occurred, and surrounding countries such as Greece and Saudi Arabia sent help, followed by aid from India and other countries. Many buildings collapsed due to being built on unstable foundations, and many that haven’t collapsed will need to be torn down and rebuilt due to damage. The Turkish government responded rapidly to the earthquake and called on the international community to do so as well.
The earthquake also struck Syria, and the known death toll there is around five thousand people. It took constant effort from the United Nations (UN) to open humanitarian aid corridors to Syria that the Russian and Syrian governments had closed prior to the earthquake, calling them a violation of Syrian sovereignty. Syria’s president, Bashar Al-Assad, notorious for using chemical weapons in the ongoing Syrian civil war, disagreed with the opening of the corridors. Refugees have been severely affected both in Turkey and Syria. Turkey currently hosts the most significant number of Syrian refugees, many in refugee camps in areas hit by the earthquake.
Turkey’s flag carrier, Turkish Airlines, evacuated over 130 thousand people from the earthquake site in Turkey, and the response is still ongoing. The damage to Turkey is estimated at around 100 billion dollars, and it is the most deadly earthquake to hit the area since the time of the Byzantine Empire. The earthquake occurred at the Anatolian fault line, an active earthquake zone. The UN also announced that around 1.5 million people had been left homeless from the earthquake. To support current earthquake relief efforts, the Turk Kizilay (Turkish Red Crescent) is accepting donations, as well as the American Red Cross, UNICEF, and the International Red Cross. Humanitarian efforts are ongoing.