The point at nightfall: more than 2,300 dead, the international community is mobilizing
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake, followed a few hours later by a very strong aftershock, caused more than 2,300 dead in southeastern Turkey and neighboring Syria, according to still provisional reports. A very large number of victims remain trapped under the rubble of the collapsed buildings which number in the thousands. The rain and snow, which fell in some places in abundance, and the expected drop in temperatures will make the situation for homeless people even more difficult, as will the work of the rescuers.
The first tremor occurred at 4:17 a.m. local time (2:17 a.m. in Paris). The epicenter was located in the district of Pazarcik, in the Turkish province of Kahramanmaras (southeast), 60 kilometers as the crow flies from the Syrian border. Dozens of aftershocks followed, before a new earthquake of magnitude 7.5at 11:24 a.m. Paris time, whose epicenter is 4 kilometers southeast of the city of Ekinozu, still in southeastern Turkey.
In Turkey, the death toll rises to 1,541 dead and 9,733 injuredaccording to the Turkish Vice-President, Fuat Oktay, who mentions 3,471 collapsed buildings.
In Syria, the earthquake killed 851 and injured at least 2,326, according to the latest reports from the Syrian Ministry of Health and rescuers from rebel areas. In the latter, there are at least 390 dead. The balance sheet is still likely to evolve in Adana, Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir in particular. In Iskenderun and Adiyaman, it was the public hospitals that gave in. The bad weather hitting this mountainous region paralyzes the main airports around Diyarbakir and Malatya, where it continues to snow very heavily.
Turkey had not experienced an earthquake of such violence since that of August 17, 1999, which caused the death of 17,000 people, including a thousand in Istanbul. According to the Danish Geological Institute, the tremors were felt as far away as Greenland.
According to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who called for national unity, Turkey has received offers of aid from 45 countries. As for the Syrian government, it appealed to the international community for help. Messages of support poured in from around the world, from US President Joe Biden, to his Russian counterparts, Vladimir Putin, and Chinese counterparts, Xi Jinping, to Pope Francis, who said “deeply saddened”as well as proposals for humanitarian and medical aid. “Our teams are on the ground to assess needs and provide assistance”said in a statement UN Secretary General Antonio Guterrescalling on the international community as a minute of silence was observed at the organization’s General Assembly.
The Kremlin, an ally of Syria, has announced that rescue teams will go there “in the next few hours”. According to the army, 300 Russian servicemen are already contributing help. The Kremlin also clarified that the Turkish president had accepted, after a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, “help from Russian rescuers” in his country.
Despite his stormy relationship with his neighbor, Greece a promis “to make available (…) all its strength to come to the aid of Turkey” and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called Mr Erdogan to offer a “immediate help” to Turkey. Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu has announced that he has approved a request for aid from Syria, with which the Jewish state does not have diplomatic relations. Damascus denied. The European Union has activated its “civil protection mechanism” et “Teams from the Netherlands and Romania [étaie]nt already on the way”. One hundred and thirty-nine French rescuers and 76 Polish firefighters have to leave in the evening. Azerbaijan, an ally and neighbor of Turkey, has announced the immediate dispatch of 370 rescue workers, Qatar and the Emirates as well as India that of rescue and medical teams and relief equipment. It is up to Ukraine at war which has proposed “a large group of rescuers”.