The number of deaths from the earthquake in Turkey and Syria exceeded 24,000 on the 11th (local time).
Reuters reported that the death toll from the magnitude 7.8 earthquake in southern Turkey and northwestern Syria reached 24,150 that afternoon. Turkey has surpassed 20,000 with 20,655, while Syria has lost at least 3,500 lives.
About 31,000 rescue workers were mobilized in the area affected by the earthquake, according to Vice President Puat Okthai Turkiye. About 80,000 people are hospitalized and receiving treatment, and 1.05 million people have lost their homes due to the strong earthquake and are staying in temporary shelters.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Turkiye visited Gaziantep and Kahramanmaras in the southern epicenter of Gangjin the previous day and admitted for the first time the government’s mistakes in disaster response, saying that the government’s response did not proceed as quickly as expected.
On the 10th (local time), shelters for victims of the disaster are prepared near the earthquake-damaged site in Turkiye Kahramanmaras. 2023.2.10/News1 ⓒ News1“Our main goal is to provide them with permanent housing within a year so they can return to normal lives and heal as soon as possible,” said Vice President Oktai.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad also visited a hospital in Aleppo in northern Syria with his wife Asma that day. According to Syrian state media, it is the first earthquake in six days.
The Syrian government restricts humanitarian aid channels to the capital, Damascus, and controls direct inflows to the rest of the region. Accordingly, the international community is urging the establishment of additional support channels throughout the affected areas in the northwest and an end to the Syrian civil war.
Meanwhile, the earthquake is considered the 7th largest natural disaster this century. Six days after the earthquake, the number of deaths has not decreased, raising concerns about whether the death toll will exceed the record set in 1939 in Turkey (33,000). It far surpassed the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake (18,500) and is 7,000 less than the 2003 Iranian Earthquake (31,000).
(Seoul-Iskenderun (Turkey) = News 1)
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.