More than 5,000 people have died and another 25,000 have been injured in Turkey and Syria by the earthquakes on Monday, while rescue efforts continue with the fear that it will be too late for the hundreds or thousands still trapped under the rubble.
In Turkey, where the earthquakes of magnitude 7.8 and 7.6 had their epicenter, the official count already speaks of 3,432 deaths and 21,000 injuries, according to a report from Eph. So far, rescue teams have been able to save around 8,000 people.
Search and rescue efforts continue for 29+ hours in earthquake northwestern #Syria amidst harsh conditions with 790+ fatalities and 2,200+ injuries reported. The death toll is expected to dramatically rise as hundreds remain trapped under rubble. pic.twitter.com/MvjN04zMPJ
— The White Helmets (@SyriaCivilDef) February 7, 2023
Despite the fact that more than 30 hours have passed since the first shock, on Tuesday morning, people were still being found alive in several of the ten provinces in the southeast of Turkey most affected by the disaster.
In Syria, immersed in a civil war for more than a decade, the information on victims comes, on the one hand, from the government of Bashar al-Assad and, on the other, from the last enclave of the country controlled by the opposition, surrounded by government forces. supported by Russia.
The total count indicates that 1,552 people have died and another 3,549 have been injured.
The White Helmets, a group of rescuers that operates in areas in the hands of the opposition, warned on Tuesday that “time is running out” and recalled that “hundreds” of people are still trapped.
Such is the number of collapsed buildings in both nations that the World Health Organization (WHO) fears that the number of fatalities will continue to rise to over 20,000.
In Turkey, the Government has reported that more than 25,000 people are collaborating in the rescue efforts and, furthermore, more than 2,700 rescuers from 65 countries have arrived or are on their way to the most affected areas.
The low temperatures and the snow in the area, where there are also mountainous territories that are difficult to access, complicate the rescue tasks.
Two Iraqi and one Iranian planes loaded with supplies for those affected by the earthquake have also arrived in Syria, the first shipments of international aid received by the Syrian government to deal with the disaster, the official Syrian news agency SANA reported on Tuesday.
The Turkish authorities have already managed to relocate some 380,000 people to public buildings, and have organized the transfer of the injured by air and boats to other provinces. In addition, the controlled evacuation of the affected provinces, where some 13 million people live, has begun.
The Turkish government has allocated 12.1 million euros (13.3 million dollars) in urgent funds for the ten most affected provinces. According to Afad, Turkey’s emergency agency, the affected area is about 110,000 square kilometers.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan assured yesterday that these earthquakes represent the biggest disaster suffered by the country since the 1939 earthquake in Erzincan, in eastern Turkey, which left more than 32,000 dead and caused a tsunami in the Black Sea. located about 160 kilometers from the epicenter.
Catastrophe in Turkey and Syria by earthquake of 7.8 degrees
The head of state yesterday decreed seven days of national mourning, and schools in the affected provinces have been closed for a week. In addition, all sports competitions have been suspended until further notice.
International aid should begin to arrive on Tuesday in the areas affected by the earthquake and its aftershocks. The first shock, in the early hours of Monday, was felt as far as Lebanon, Cyprus and northern Iraq.
With information from Efe and Afp.
