TURKEY EARTHQUAKE. Two earthquakes, of rare intensity for the region, mourned Turkey and Syria on Monday, February 6, 2023. The latest provisional assessment reports more than 2,600 dead and 11,000 injured. The aid promised by the international community is more than expected on the spot.
19:47 – Turkish president decrees week-long national mourning
Hour after hour, the provisional balance sheet continued to climb, Monday, February 6, 2023, after the two earthquakes that occurred in Turkey and Syria. Faced with such a disaster, the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, decreed a seven-day national mourning at the start of the evening.
19:09 – The provisional toll continues to rise in Turkey and Syria after the terrible earthquakes
While relief workers continue to work on the spot to try to come to the aid of any survivors still trapped in the rubble in Turkey and Syria, the joint toll now exceeds 2,600 dead, reported shortly before 7 p.m. authorities of the two bereaved countries. In detail, 1,651 dead have been recorded in Turkey, said Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca, reporting at least 11,159 injured. 3,471 buildings would have collapsed following the two earthquakes, raising fears of an even higher final toll. In Syria, at least a thousand people have also lost their lives.
18:14 – Why did the earthquakes that occurred on Monday in Turkey and Syria surprise so much?
While experts agree that recording earthquakes in this area is not surprising, an earthquake as powerful as the first, at 7.8 on the Richter scale, is more so. Questioned by BFM TV, the seismologist Jérôme Vergne does not hesitate to speak of a “major earthquake” for this area. And to detail: the region “had not broken with an earthquake of this magnitude since the 12th century, even if we had had significant earthquakes in the 18th and 19th centuries.”
16:34 – Facades peeling off, buildings collapsing
Since this morning the videos of the damage caused by the earthquakes in Turkey are multiplying and show the numerous and dangerous collapses like here with two buildings in Turkey.
#Earthquake
The facade of a building peels off following the earthquakes in #Turkey ????????Terrible situation, people no longer know where to flee, they flee a building on the verge of collapse while another is completely destroyed. And the aftershocks don’t stop. pic.twitter.com/ABEi8ZaFC3
— Relay Info (@Olivier40121476) February 6, 2023
16:19 – Historical and archaeological sites destroyed by earthquakes
The earthquakes destroyed many buildings including historical and archaeological sites. In Turkey, the castle of Gaziantep built during the first millennium and renovated in the year 2000 was partly destroyed by the tremors. On the side of Syria, it is in Aleppo that we deplore heavy cultural losses such as the citadel of Aleppo. “The Ottoman mill inside the citadel of Aleppo has partly collapsed and portions of the defensive walls in the northeast are cracked and split” lamented in a communicated the General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums which lists other collapses as that of “large parts of the dome of the lighthouse of the Ayyubid mosque”.
15:59 – New toll: 2,300 dead and more than 10,000 injured
Minute after minute, the human toll of the earthquakes that shook Turkey is changing. Now, the Turkish and Syrian authorities count respectively 1,498 and 810 people dead while 8,533 and 2,315 people are injured on both sides of the border. The figure is still subject to change. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan nevertheless indicated to Turkish public television TPT that “2,470 people were pulled from the rubble” of more than 2,800 collapsed buildings by some 10,000 rescuers on the job.
15:48 – Many areas inaccessible to rescuers
If the rescuers struggle to save as many victims as possible, international aid and material reinforcements from the international community are essential. Turkish MP Ali Kenanoğlu reported on Twitter that many areas likely to harbor victims “cannot be reached by air or land” but by “helicopter only”.
15:31 – More than 1,900 dead and 8,000 injured after earthquakes in Turkey
What is the total toll of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria? The figures continue to evolve as victims are rescued from the rubble. For the time being, there are 1,121 people dead in Turkey and 810 dead in Syria. The wounded are even more numerous with 7,634 Turkish wounded according to the authorities and 2,315 people injured in Syria.
15:01 – Death toll rises to over 1,100 in Turkey
Again the human toll is increasing in Turkey and according to the latest figures from the authorities, at least 1121 people died in Turkey after the earthquake.
14:42 – 2,800 collapsed buildings in Turkey alone
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that 2,800 buildings had collapsed during or after the earthquake. The images actually show dozens of collapsed buildings.
a violent #earthquakeof magnitude 7.7, caused more than 1000 deaths in #Turkey. According to President Erdogan, it is the “worst disaster since 1939”.
In such a moment of national mourning, any message of solidarity, support, any help and prayer are welcome ???? pic.twitter.com/PzUi42ISgj— Öznur Sirene (@OznurSirene) February 6, 2023
14:28 – French volunteers will leave for Turkey this Tuesday
Several teams of rescuers must take the road to Turkey and Syria to help the authorities and the rescuers after the earthquake. While many rescuers are sent by the international community, others leave as volunteers such as the International Emergency Firefighters, a French association. Thirty volunteers will leave for Turkey on Tuesday, the organization announced. “A search and rescue team (USAR) of about thirty rescuers, all specialties combined (cyno, medical, intervention in dangerous environments) accompanied by two dogs, with more than 600 kg of freight, will pass through Istanbul to reach in Adana, only a few tens of kilometers from the epicenter,” she wrote in a press release.
14:13 – Fifty countries have offered their help to Turkey and Syria
The appeal for international assistance launched by the Turkish authorities has been heard. In the wake of Europe and other nations, around fifty countries responded and offered to send aid or organize the dispatch of rescue teams.
14:02 – The toll of increases in Syria
In Syria, the human toll from the violent earthquake stands at 783 dead and 2,280 injured. In Turkey, the toll is still estimated at 912 dead and more than 5,300 people injured.
13:44 – “The absolute priority is to save the people who are under the rubble”
While the teams of rescuers have been working for several hours to save the victims of the earthquake, French rescuers are on the way to offer their help. Among them are members of the Emergency Architects Foundation headed by Patrick Coulombel. “The absolute priority is to save the people who are under the rubble”, explained the founder of the organization BFM TV. It is also necessary “to set up security perimeters around buildings that are considered to be dangerous for […] avoid additional damage if they collapse”. If the cold complicates rescue operations, aftershocks can also occur at any time and cause the collapse of other buildings which can be problematic.
13:25 – Why are earthquakes frequent in Turkey?
Turkey is often plagued by earthquakes. A phenomenon which is explained, according to seismologists, by the complex fault system located in Turkey with the crossing of three tectonic plates. The earthquake of this Monday, February 6 would be the effect of a sliding of these plates at the level of the East Anatolian fault which extends over several hundred kilometers and which overflows into Syrian territory. Seismologists expected to see an earthquake with a magnitude between 7.2 and 7.6 erupt in the southeastern region of Turkey precisely because of the strong activity of the fault system explained the specialist and professor emeritus at the University of Grenoble Alpes, Jean Virieux, at the microphone of France info.
The earthquake whose epicenter was recorded near Nurdağı, in southern Turkey, claimed many victims according to the provisional assessment. At least 2,300 dead have already been counted in Turkey and Syria. The provisional reports announced by the Syrian Ministry of Health and the Turkish Vice President also report more than 600 and 2,300 injured in the two countries. Searches are still ongoing under the rubble. The number of collapsed buildings, at least a thousand in Turkey, suggests that the human toll could increase.
Since the earthquake, it has been a race against time in Turkey and Syria to find as many victims as possible trapped under the rubble. On site, all the rescue teams are deployed. “All our teams are on alert. We have issued a level four alarm,” Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu told the channel. Haberturk launching an appeal for international assistance. “Nations have already responded to this appeal, such as Italy, which has offered the help of Civil Protection. In France, Emmanuel Macron assured on Twitter that the country “stands ready to provide emergency aid to the populations on the spot” Same reaction from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. It is also the whole of the European Union which reacted by announcing the dispatch of relief to Turkey.
Turkey is in one of the most active seismic zones in the world, but the earthquake on February 6 is one of the strongest recorded in recent years and could be one of the deadliest. This earthquake is the largest recorded since that of August 17, 1999 which caused the death of 17,000 people.