By Link News Network
Two powerful earthquakes in Türkiye (formally known as Turkey) and the surrounding region struck in the early morning of February 6, 2023. Reports indicate that the earthquake had a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale. The epicentre of the earthquake was in southeastern Türkiye, near the Turkish city of Gaziantep — around 60 miles from the Syria border and a hub for humanitarian assistance in the region. Less than 12 hours later, a second earthquake hit the region, with almost the same scale of 7.7 Richter.
The earthquakes have so far claimed thousands of lives and caused untold destruction to homes and infrastructure across the region. The death toll currently stands at over 19,000 people, the WHO have estimated that this number will continue to rise, with a large proportion of those killed being young children.
With severe winter storms currently sweeping through the region and compounding the vulnerability of survivors, families urgently need life-saving shelter and assistance.
Devastating images dead bodies and destroyed homes, roads, health facilities and other critical infrastructure emerged on social media.
Countries across the world including Canada and India have stepped up to help the devastated country.Organizations like UNHRC, Red Cross, and Khalsa Aid International also sent their volunteers.
Canada announced $10 million in humanitarian assistance to help support emergency medical services and provide shelter, food and other essential items.
In addition, Canada has allocated approximately $50 million in humanitarian assistance to Syria for 2023. Many Canadian-funded partners have already initiated emergency response activities in Syria, including the distribution of food by the World Food Programme, fuel for emergency heating by NGOs and UN agencies and tents, tarps and other shelter-related items by the UN Refugee Agency.
“Canadians are deeply saddened by the loss of life and terrible destruction caused by the earthquakes. Our initial response will go toward meeting the immediate, most urgent needs of those impacted by these devastating events. We continue to look at ways we can support those affected during these difficult times,” saidHarjit S. Sajjan, Minister of International Development.
As soon as the news broke Khalsa Aid International dispatched a 3-person team from our Iraq chapter led by Aid Coordinator Sozan Fahmi to carry out assessments and deliver emergency support on the ground.
According to Khalsa Aid International, “The team, travelled overnight by road from Iraq, arriving in Turkey on Tuesday afternoon. The travel infrastructure and thousands of buildings have been completely destroyed leaving residents trapped in cities this added to the difficulties in traveling for our rescue team. Our team travelled with a truckload of 3,500 blankets to distribute as those who have lost their homes are now battling freezing conditions as the temperature is expected to remain very cold in the coming days, with overnight temperatures dropping to below -5 degrees celsius.”
India launched OperationDost to help the rescue mission. The Indian Army set up a field hospital at Iskenderun in Hatay province of Türkiye. External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar said the field hospital will treat those affected by the earthquake. He said, a team of Indian medical and critical care specialists and equipment are preparing to treat emergencies.
In Türkiye, UNHCR teams are assisting refugee and local populations alike in response to the government’s request to provide emergency assistance.
“The situation is tragic,” said UNHCR Representative in Türkiye, Philippe Leclerc. “Right now, UNHCR is providing, with other UN agencies, what the Turkish authorities are requesting, so basically kitchen sets, mattresses, tents, so that we can complement the leading efforts of the Turkish authorities to rescue Turkish citizens and refugees in the same manner.”
Among those affected inside Syria are families that were already displaced from their homes by the country’s long-running crisis, living in tents, flimsy shelters and partially destroyed buildings.
In Türkiye, those caught up in the disaster include many thousands of refugees from Syria and the communities that have generously hosted them for nearly 12 years.
At a news briefing in Geneva on Tuesday, UNHCR spokesperson Matthew Saltmarsh described the disaster as a “hammer blow” for displaced Syrians, millions of whom were already reliant on humanitarian aid for survival before the earthquakes struck.
Rescue workers and news agencies took to social media to share gut wrenching images of rescue and death in Turkey. One of the most devastating videos was that of a father trying to break and remove debris with his bare hands in order to search for his trapped family. He shouts “Say something girls, make some noise…” But receives no reply.
There was a video of a local rescue team that found university student Kerem Cetin under rubble in Turkey’s Hatay, the earthquake victim immediately asked them to save his cat before pulling him out. Many videos showed rescue workers saving various animals trapped under.
Another tragic video showed recuse workers pulling out a father who covered his son with his body during a tragic earthquake. One devastating video showed rescue workers shouting “can anyone hear our voice?”The silence that followed was gut wrenching.
In one of the videos a young Syrian boy is seen smiling and playing with the rescue workers who pulled him from the rubble of a building.
Cold, hunger and despair gripped hundreds of thousands of people left homeless by earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, while hopes faded of many more people being found alive amid the ruins of cities.
Turkey’s youngest earthquake survivors have been flown to safety in President Erdogan’s private plane. The 16 babies were pulled from the rubble in the city of Kahramanmaraş and have been flown to Ankara to be checked over by doctors.
