Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria: At least 2,300 dead, thousands injured

Status: 06.02.2023 6:08 p.m

After the violent earthquakes in the Turkish-Syrian border area, the death toll rises to at least 2,300. Thousands of people were injured and many more are believed to be buried under the rubble. International aid has started.

After one of the worst earthquake disasters in recent decades, several thousand deaths are to be feared in southern Turkey and northern Syria. The number of victims was given as at least 2,300 by late afternoon. The actual extent is not yet foreseeable, as hundreds of people were probably buried.

According to the Turkish disaster service Afad, the main earthquake in the morning with the epicenter in Kahramanmaras in southern Turkey had a magnitude of 7.7. At noon, a 7.5-magnitude tremor shook the same region, according to the Kandilli earthquake station in Istanbul. The earth also shook in Lebanon and Iraq, as well as on the nearby Mediterranean island of Cyprus.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke of the strongest earthquake since 1939. According to EU representatives, it was one of the strongest in the region in more than 100 years.

Rescue workers and local residents are desperately searching for survivors under the rubble. At least 1,541 deaths have been counted so far, said Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay in the evening (local time). In Syria, the death toll rose to more than 850, according to the Ministry of Health and the rescue organization White Helmets. More than 2,300 people were injured in Syria. According to current knowledge, around 9,700 people were injured in Turkey.

Thousands of buildings collapsed

In the disaster area, where millions of civil war refugees from Syria have sought shelter, temperatures are around freezing. According to aid organizations, thousands have become homeless in both countries.

According to Vice President Oktay, 3,471 buildings collapsed in Turkey. People are called upon to spend the nights outside because of the acute danger of collapse.

In Syria, according to the White Helmets, more than 133 buildings have collapsed completely and 272 have been partially destroyed.

Many dead and injured after earthquakes in the border area between Turkey and Syria

Katharina Willinger, ARD Istanbul, daily news 5:00 p.m., February 6, 2023

International help on the way

International aid has started. NATO members are in the process of mobilizing support, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Twitter.

Turkey has already forwarded a statement to NATO Alliance Headquarters. Accordingly, it needs emergency medical teams, emergency medical equipment and search and rescue teams that can work in difficult conditions. Specifically, three field hospitals suitable for extreme weather conditions and personnel for their establishment are also named.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres was “deeply saddened” by the disaster. The United Nations stands ready to provide emergency assistance.

EU rescue teams on the way

Ten search and rescue teams have already been sent by the European Union, said EU Commissioner Janez Lenarcic on Twitter. The EU’s Copernicus satellite service has also been activated to provide support. Its data can be used, among other things, to create location maps that show a detailed extent of the damage.

The federal government also wants to send help. “The Federal Agency for Technical Relief can provide camps with emergency shelters and water treatment units,” said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser. The THW is also already preparing aid deliveries with emergency power generators, tents and blankets. A crisis team in the Federal Foreign Office is to advise on coordination.

Ambassador thanks for “wave of German solidarity”

The Turkish ambassador in Berlin, Ahmet Basar Sen, thanked “for the immense wave of solidarity from the Germans”. The ambassador explained that he was in close contact with the federal police, the interior and foreign ministries and the chancellery. “The massive earthquake disaster that hit our country today fills Turkey and our citizens living in Germany with great sadness,” he said. “Since the early hours of the morning, both our embassy in Berlin and our consulate general in Germany have been in a state of emergency.”

Biden: “Provide any assistance needed”

The US also offered to help. “I am deeply saddened by the loss of life and destruction caused by the earthquake in Turkey and Syria,” US President Joe Biden said on Twitter. “I have instructed my team to continue to closely monitor the situation, in coordination with Turkey, and to provide any necessary assistance.”

According to Foreign Minister Antony Blinken, the first US support for Turkey is already on its way. Humanitarian organizations supported by the United States are also deployed in Syria, according to a statement.

Humanitarian aid from Israel, India and Russia

Israel also announced that it would provide humanitarian aid to Turkey. Israeli Defense Minister Joav Galant instructed the army and defense ministry to make appropriate preparations. Israel also wants to provide humanitarian aid in Syria, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Officially, Israel and Syria are at war. It is not yet known what the aid for Syria will look like in concrete terms.

India also announced support. Indian civil protection search and rescue teams with trained dogs and appropriate equipment, as well as doctors and paramedics with essential medicine are to be sent, the foreign ministry said in New Delhi.

According to Russia, it wants to send rescue teams to Turkey and Syria. Civil Protection Minister Aleksandr Kurenkov said 100 search and rescue teams were ready for the earthquake areas. Despite the severe tensions with Turkey, Greece also agreed to send rescue teams to the earthquake area.

EU earthquake aid for Turkey and Syria has started

Stephan Ueberbach, SWR Brussels, February 6, 2023 1:57 p.m

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