edited by: Shankhneel Sarkar
Last Update: February 11, 2023, 13:23 IST
Destroyed buildings and bodies wrapped in blankets are seen after the deadly earthquake in Hatay, Turkey (Image: Reuters)
The death toll in southern Turkey and northwestern Syria has passed 24,000 and attention has turned to feeding and sheltering the displaced.
The focus is now on ensuring aid reaches those affected by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Turkey earlier this Monday and rescue those trapped under the rubble.
As the death toll has passed the 24,000 mark and miraculous evacuations are being reported, inclement weather with rain and freezing temperatures continues to be a challenge for both Turkish and international rescue teams.
Officials and doctors said 20,665 people had died in Turkey and 3,553 in Syria. The total number of confirmed cases now stands at 24,218, news agency AFP reported.
Large sections of people in southern Turkey as well as northwestern Syria are left homeless as parts of cities on both sides of the border turn into rubble.
The United Nations said that 5.3 million people in Syria are now homeless and living in tents. The agency also said that at least 870,000 people in both countries are in urgent need of food.
A resident of Turkey’s historic city of Antakya – now mostly reduced to a pile of rubble from collapsed apartments – told news outlets she is uncertain about her future.
“It’s not that I can’t see where I’ll be in two or three years – I can’t imagine where I’ll be tomorrow,” Fidan Turan was quoted as saying by news agency AFP. Fidan later told AFP that he lost 60 of his extended family members.
effects of war
The suffering of the people affected by the earthquake in Syria has increased as they were already suffering due to the ongoing Syrian civil war. Many parts of northwestern Syria were already in the grip of ongoing conflict between pro-Assad, government forces and rebels, and Kurdistan rebels.
Rebels and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (considered a terrorist organization by the Turkish government) have announced they will temporarily halt hostilities, while the Assad-led Syrian government said aid will reach ‘every Syrian’.
According to the United Nations, Syria currently has 545,000 internally displaced people and 45,000 refugees in earthquake-affected areas. World food program.
Turkish government facing pressure, backlash
The delay in response to the earthquake has angered citizens in parts of southern Turkey, challenging Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in an election year.
Amid reports of a lack of response, new reports have emerged that Turkey’s local governments encouraged a real estate boom in earthquake-prone areas despite problems pointed out by experts in geology and engineering.
Ip Muhcu, president of Turkey’s Chamber of Architects, said that many buildings in the earthquake-hit area were built with substandard materials and methods, and often did not comply with government standards.
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