On February 6, 2023, the most powerful earthquakes since 1939 occurred in Turkey - dozens of tremors with a magnitude of up to 7,8 were recorded near the border with Syria. Tremors were also felt in Cyprus, Lebanon, Sochi, Batumi and even in Greenland. Cities and villages were destroyed, and a gas pipeline exploded in Hatay province.
The number of victims of earthquakes in Turkey and Syria on the morning of February 7 was 4800. Rescue operations continued throughout the night in most of southern Turkey and northern Syria.
Let us recall that the last such powerful earthquake in Turkey was in 1939 in Erzincan, when about 33 people died. In 1999, about 7,6 people died as a result of earthquakes near Izmit with a magnitude of up to 18. The current earthquake occurred in the region of the East Anatolian fault. Seismologists consider this area dangerous, but there have been no noticeable tremors here for over a hundred years.
Houses turned into ruins in a matter of minutes
The first strong tremor was recorded at 4:17 a.m. local time in southern Turkey, near the border with Syria. 23 kilometers from the epicenter is the city of Nurdagi, where about 17 thousand people live, and the nearest big city is Gaziantep with a population of more than 1,5 million people. This was followed by several aftershocks.
In Syria, the provinces of Latakia, Aleppo, Hama and Tartus were the most affected.
Judging by the photos and video, there is catastrophic destruction at the scene of the tragedy - houses turned into ruins in a matter of minutes.
Victims need help
Meanwhile, there are queues of volunteers at the Istanbul airport: people are trying to fly to the regions affected by the earthquake to help their compatriots.
Rescuers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Kazakhstan flew from Almaty to Turkey to help in the elimination of the consequences of earthquakes. The previous city of arrival is Gaziantep, the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations reports.
Many countries are helping Turkey, including Japan, Kosovo, the USA, Azerbaijan, Poland, Armenia, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Uzbekistan and many others. Some states sent rescuers and medics, others sent humanitarian and technical assistance.
Could the tragedy have been avoided?
The affected areas had not experienced major earthquakes for more than 200 years, so the level of preparedness for them was lower than in regions where they are expected all the time.
But it is not only a matter of prompt response to what has already happened. An important factor that allows you to reduce risks and prevent catastrophic consequences is the strength of buildings. The videos from the scene of the tragedy show that houses are collapsing at an incredible speed.
Here is what the writer and publicist Anatoly Nesmiyan writes about this:
"Houses under construction in Turkey can become a serious problem for Erdogan due to the fact that a significant share of contracts on the construction market is "held" by his son-in-law's construction holding. The quality of the buildings, considering everything, does not meet any seismic resistance standards. Of course, as long as Erdogan is in power, it will not be possible to resolve this issue legally, but the May elections can resolve it politically."
Life is hanging in the balance
International relief efforts are now intensifying in southern Turkey and northern Syria after a major earthquake.
Assessing what is happening, Dr. Carmen Solana, a specialist in volcanology and risk communication at the University of Portsmouth, noted that, unfortunately, in southern Turkey and especially in Syria, the sustainable infrastructure is not uniform, so saving lives now mainly depends on the response.
“The next 24 hours are crucial to finding survivors. ... After 48 hours, the number of survivors decreases sharply," the expert noted.
As BBC correspondent Anna Foster reports in her report from Gaziantep province in southern Turkey:
"It is incredibly difficult to reach areas close to the epicenter. There are fears that the main highway is dangerous, so everything has been moved to a winding mountain road. People were desperately trying to let ambulances and rescue teams through, but the road is jammed with trucks and people trying to get out.''
Things are made worse by the fact that the roads are cracked and broken, making rescue operations difficult.
"As you get closer to the epicenter, you can really see how the scale of the destruction is increasing," reports the correspondent, "we're still feeling the aftershocks and people don't want to be near the houses. When people feel them, they run away."
She also reports that there are many destroyed buildings in which rescue operations are not being carried out at all, although people may still be under the rubble. Efforts are focused on larger houses, which rescuers believe have more people, Hanna Foster suggests:
"People are silent, stunned by the events. They light fires to keep warm and watch these rescue operations continue. It's terribly quiet around."
Timothy Whiting, a 29-year-old native of Yorkshire in Great Britain, shared his impressions. He was on vacation in Turkey when the earthquake struck. He himself was on the second floor of a two-story building, which, in fact, saved him, since mostly five- or six-story buildings were destroyed. According to him, they were collapsing "as if from the explosion of a nuclear bomb."
Ibrahim Haskologlu, a Turkish journalist based in Istanbul, said people were writing to him and other journalists while they were under the rubble: "They tell us where they are, but we can't do anything."
The World Health Organization estimates that up to 23 million people in Turkey and Syria may be affected by these earthquakes. The figure includes about a million children.
