TURKIYE – A massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Turkey on Monday (6/2/2023) has killed at least 7,800 people. Launched from Reuters, Turkish Vice President, Fuat Oktay said that the number of casualties who died in Turkey rose to 5,894 and 34 thousand people were injured on Tuesday (7/2/2023).
Meanwhile, the number of casualties in Syria has reached at least 1,932 people. Turkish authorities said about 13.5 million people in the region stretching from Adana to Diyarbarkir, as well as from Malatya to Hatay were affected by the deadly earthquake. It was noted that 5,775 buildings had also been destroyed.
Furthermore, UNICEF Spokesperson, James Elder estimated that thousands of children had died as a result of the earthquake. “This massive earthquake may have killed thousands of children,” Elder told Reuters.
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So far, the evacuation process by the rescue team has been obstructed by bad weather and extreme winters. In fact, they must continue to race against time, given the possibility that there are still many casualties under the rubble of the wreckage who can be saved.
“Now (the rescue team) is racing against time. Every minute, every hour passes, the chances of finding survivors are decreasing,” said WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
In addition, the rescue team’s journey to reach the severely affected areas was also blocked by damaged roads, lack of resources and heavy machinery. In fact, some areas did not have fuel and electricity.
“Infrastructure was broken, roads we used to use for humanitarian work were damaged,” said UN Resident Coordinator, El-Mostafa Benlamlih, quoted from Reuters.
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More than 12 thousand Turkish search and rescue personnel continued to work at the affected sites, along with 9 thousand Turkish soldiers. More than 70 countries had also offered assistance, including Indonesia. The area affected by the earthquake in Turkey and Syria was very large, even thousands of the rescue team personnel could not cover other areas that needed rescue teams.
One area that still lacked of rescue teams was Antakya, the capital of Hatay Province, which bordered Syria. There, the number of rescue teams moving in the field was very small. This then made the residents try to dig up the rubble of the ruins themselves with their bare hands without gloves or any special equipment, in order to find their families.
“The area is very large. I’ve never seen anything like this before,” said Johannes Gust of the Germany Fire and Rescue Service while loading equipment onto a truck at Adana airport.
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Turkey is in A State of Emergency
After this massive earthquake, Turkish President, Tayyip Erdogan has applied a state of emergency in 10 earthquake-affected provinces for the next three months. In addition, Erdogan also said that the government would open a hotel in the tourism hub of Antalya to house people affected by the earthquake, temporarily.
However, people in several cities in Turkey, who were affected by the earthquake, actually voiced anger and despair towards the Turkish Government. They assessed that the government’s response to this disaster was very slow and inadequate. In fact, this earthquake is among the deadliest earthquakes that have ever occurred in Turkey, after the Izmit Earthquake in 1999 which killed 17 thousand people.
“There’s not even a single person here. We were under the snow, without a house, without anything. What should I do, where should I go?” said Murat Alinak, a resident who lost his home and relatives.
