The earthquake that shook Turkey and Syria on Monday February 6 killed more than 8,300 people, according to the latest official reports published on Wednesday. Authorities in both countries reported that 5,894 people died in Turkey and 2,470 in Syria, bringing the total death toll to 8,364. International aid has started to arrive in Turkey where national mourning has been declared for seven days.
In freezing cold, rescuers continue to race against time to try to rescue survivors of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake which struck at dawn on Monday and shook southeastern Turkey and neighboring Syria. Bad weather is complicating the task of rescue and the Turkish Interior Minister warned on Tuesday that the next 48 hours would be “crucial” to find survivors.
On both sides of the Turkish-Syrian border, we are working to try to save lives. In Jandairis, on the Syrian side, a newborn baby was brought out alive from the rubble. This little girl was still connected by the umbilical cord to her mother, who died like all the other members of the family. Twenty-three million people are “potentially exposed, including around five million vulnerable people”, warned the World Health Organization (WHO).
Several archaeological sites have been affected in Syria and in particular the citadel of Aleppo, an architectural jewel of the medieval era and its old city, classified in 2018 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in danger, after years of civil war. In Turkey, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reported nearly 3,000 collapsed buildings in seven different provinces – 2,834 according to AFAD, Turkey’s public disaster management body.
Cities like Adana, Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir were affected, but also Iskenderun and Adiyaman, where public hospitals collapsed. The quake also struck the obligatory crossing point for humanitarian aid sent from Turkey to Syrian rebel areas, the UN said.
According to the Turkish president, 45 countries have offered their help, which began arriving in Turkey on Tuesday with the first rescue teams. The European Union has mobilized 1,185 rescue workers and 79 search dogs for Turkey, sent by 19 Member States. In Syria, the EU is working with its humanitarian partners and funding aid operations. Despite the Russian invasion, Ukraine will send 87 rescue workers to Turkey.
The United States has pledged about 160 rescue workers and Beijing on Tuesday announced $5.9 million in aid, including specialized urban rescue workers, medical teams and emergency equipment. The United Arab Emirates has promised $100 million in aid and Saudi Arabia, which has had no ties with the Damascus regime since 2012, has announced the creation of an air bridge with the two countries. Russia has promised the authorities in Damascus rescue teams “in the next few hours”. More than 300 Russian soldiers are already helping on the spot, according to the army.
Sweden has also promised to support Turkey, despite bilateral tensions. Israel announced that it had “approved” the sending of aid to Syria, after a request from Damascus received through “diplomatic” channels, the two countries having no official relations. The Maghreb has mobilized with relief teams sent notably from Algeria and Libya, Tunis having ordered the dispatch of 14 tons of blankets and food products.
The United States said on Tuesday it was working with local NGOs in Syria to help victims of the devastating earthquake which also hit Turkey, refusing any link with the government in Damascus. “In Syria itself, we have humanitarian partners that the United States is funding and who are providing life-saving aid,” US Foreign Minister Antony Blinken told reporters.
“We are determined to provide this assistance in order to help the Syrian people overcome” this ordeal, he said, insisting that “these funds will of course go to the Syrian people, not to the regime” in Damascus. Earlier, the head of operations for the US Agency for Development Assistance (USAID), Stephen Allen, had assured from Ankara that “all our humanitarian effort is now directed towards northwestern Syria”. American aid consists of supporting rescue teams and providing shelter and food, added Stephen Allen, refusing to identify these NGO partners for security reasons.
A huge fire, which has spread to dozens of containers, continues to burn Tuesday evening for the second consecutive day in the Turkish port of Iskenderun, in southern Turkey near the Syrian border, the consequence of the violent earthquake of Monday. The images broadcast by Turkish television show a huge column of black, oily and thick smoke above the colored containers, stored on a quay of this port on the Mediterranean.
The disaster started late Monday afternoon and has been raging ever since: it apparently started when one of the containers overturned on the others under the effect of one of the many aftershocks of the initial earthquake, d a magnitude of 7.8. Many attempts have been made since to try to extinguish the flames, the firefighters of Istanbul even came to the rescue, announced the mayor of the economic capital of the country, Ekrem Imamoglu. The Turkish authorities also dispatched a coastguard vessel equipped with spears. But the flames continue to feed the black plume, posing risks of pollution.
