Turkey and Syria earthquake: death toll passes 5,000, with 5,775 buildings confirmed collapsed – latest At least 3,419 have died in Turkey, while Syria toll stands at about 1,600; more than 24,000 people involved in search and rescue

 

Turkey and Syria earthquake: death toll passes 5,000, with 5,775 buildings confirmed collapsed – latest

At least 3,419 have died in Turkey, while Syria toll stands at about 1,600; more than 24,000 people involved in search and rescue

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2023/feb/07/turkey-earthquake-syria-in-turkiye-2023-live-updates-latest-news-map-magnitude-7-8-scale-quake-tremor-death-toll-gaziantep-kahramanmaras

 

Combined death toll in Turkey and Syria exceeds 5,000

Turkey’s vice-president has said that the death toll in the country from the earthquake now stands at 3,419, Reuters reports. That takes the combined official death tolls from Turkey, Syria and the rebel-held areas of Syria to 5,021.

 

Difficult conditions frustrate rescue efforts after Turkey and Syria earthquakes as toll reaches 4,800

 

Rescue teams search for survivors trapped in rubble amid cold and aftershocks following deadly 7.8 magnitude tremor

 

Ruth Michaelson and Deniz Barış Narlı in Ankara

Mon 6 Feb 2023 23.58 EST

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/07/turkey-syria-earthquake-conditions-rescue-efforts-death-toll

 

Powerful aftershocks continued to jolt southern Turkey and northern Syria, one day after an earthquake struck the region killing at least 4,800 people, as difficult conditions and freezing temperatures hampered rescue efforts.

 

As the scale of the devastation from the 7.8 magnitude tremor continued to unfold, the World Health Organization warned the number of casualties could exceed 20,000.

 

People in remote towns in southern Turkey described how relief efforts were stretched to breaking point, amid destruction over a border region spanning almost 650 miles.

 

In rebel-held northern Syria, volunteer rescue workers said they lacked some of the most basic fuel and other provisions required to pull those still trapped under the rubble of their homes.

 

An unknown number of people remain trapped and efforts to find survivors have been frustrated by frigid conditions. Poor internet connections and damaged roads between some of the worst-hit cities in Turkey’s south, home to millions of people, also hindered rescue teams.

 

Ali Ünlü, from the remote town of Adıyaman, close to the quake epicentre in Kahramanmaraş, said that he had been working since Monday morning to free his elderly mother who was trapped under the rubble of her home.

 

“After the earthquake I ran to my Mother’s house, and saw the building had collapsed. I was devastated. I started waiting for rescue teams, but they didn’t show up. I started calling officials, all the lines cut out,” he said.

 

“The weather is extremely cold, and we have no food. At first, one of my relatives texted that he is under the rubble and we could hear his voice under the debris. He was trapped there for four hours, and eventually we dug him out.”

 

“It’s been over 24 hours and my mother is still trapped under the rubble. I don’t know if she’s still alive or not. Resources are stretched so thin, but I feel there’s a lack of organisation.”

 

Many Turks vented their anger online over what they said was a negligent emergency response in the southernmost province of Hatay, with many complaining that rescue efforts had failed to reach the area.

 

In Hatay, the quake levelled multiple government buildings including the local chapter of Turkey’s disaster relief agency, the AFAD.

 

“I am so angry,” said analyst Gönül Tol, of the Middle East Institute in Washington. “People are trying to dig out loved ones trapped under rubble. It is cold, raining, no electricity. One family member is trapped under a heavy concrete slab, waiting for rescue workers for hours.”

 

In Syria, the effects of the quake were compounded by the destruction brought on by more than 11 years of civil war. A top UN humanitarian official said fuel shortages in Syria and the harsh winter weather were also creating obstacles to its response.

 

“The infrastructure is damaged, the roads that we used to use for humanitarian work are damaged, we have to be creative in how to get to the people … but we are working hard,” UN resident coordinator El-Mostafa Benlamlih told Reuters.

 

In the rebel-held areas of northern Syria, rescuers workers worked through the night to find civilians still trapped under the rubble, while others attempted to find shelter in the freezing rain.

 

“This earthquake could not have come at a worst time. The situation on the ground is that there’s just no shelter. There’s nowhere to go. It’s raining right now, and our colleagues are on the ground trying to dig people out of the rubble in the middle of freezing temperatures,” said Oubadah Alwan, a spokesman for the Syrian Civil Defence forces, also known as the White Helmets, an emergency response force trained to rescue people trapped under the rubble after airstrikes.

 

Alwan said that the Syrian Civil Defence forces are lacking in basic resources needed for the rescue efforts, even down to diesel fuel to power machinery used for rescue.

 

“In northwest Syria, in terms of emergency response, it’s largely just the White Helmets working. And we’re just an NGO, we’re definitely not equipped to deal with this level of scale of tragedy, and chaos,” he said.

 

On Tuesday, Turkey’s relief agency AFAD said there were 3,381 deaths in that country. The death toll in Syria stood at 1,444.

 

On Monday, Catherine Smallwood, the WHO senior emergency officer for Europe, told the AFP the death toll could increase “eightfold” on the initial numbers, speaking when the estimated toll stood at 2,600.

 

“We always see the same thing with earthquakes, unfortunately, which is that the initial reports of the numbers of people who have died or who have been injured will increase quite significantly in the week that follows.”

 

Many governments have rushed to dispatch aid, personnel and equipment to help the rescue efforts. Pledges of assistance came in on Monday from countries across Europe, Asia and the Middle East, as well as North America. Turkey said it had received offers of aid from 45 governments ranging from Kuwait to India to Russia.

 

Syria said on Monday that aid sent after the earthquake will reach all its population, even though Damascus does not control all of its territory.

 

The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, will be under pressure to oversee an effective response to the disaster heading to an election on 14 May.

 

 

“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.

 

Some Turkish civilians increasingly took it on themselves to help. Nihal Atasoy, a 25-year-old nurse, spoke as she waited to board a flight to Adana, after deciding to volunteer with the rescue effort.

 

“I used to live in Osmaniye, but when I called I couldn’t reach my friends there in the hours after the quake. When I finally got through to them they said things like ‘my house is in ruins.’ So I decided to volunteer, as I normally work in intensive care,” she said. “Honestly, I don’t know what I’ll find when I get to Adana, whether I will try to save people trapped under the rubble, or work in the hospital as a nurse.”