Death Toll Reaches 1,900 While 7,600 Injured Following Disastrous Turkey, Syria Earthquakes

According to the most recent calamity update from authorities, the combined death toll from the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria has reached 1,900.

Death Toll

According to the nation's disaster management organization, over 1,100 people were confirmed dead across 10 provinces of Turkey, and at least 7,600 people were injured.

Information from the health ministry shows that over 430 people have died and 1,280 have been injured in Syria's government-controlled areas. According to The Guardian, organizations operating in the northwest of the country where the government does not have control, say that at least 380 people have died and hundreds have been injured.

Aljazeera predicts that the death toll will continue to rise.

Magnitude 7.8 Earthquake

The first earthquake, which occurred while people were sleeping, had a magnitude of 7.8 and was one of the strongest ones to hit the area in at past 100 years. Even locals from Cairo and Cyprus confirmed the occurrence of the earthquake in their area. According to the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), the second significant earthquake, which registered at magnitude 7.7, occurred 42 miles northeast of Kahramanmaraş.

According to Aljazeera, several of the aftershocks were felt after the earthquake, and officials warned people not to access damaged buildings because of the dangers.

Kahramanmaras, Gaziantep, Adana, Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, Adiyaman, Malatya, Osmaniye, Hatay, and Kilis were among the regions so far affected, according to an AFAD statement carried by the government-run Anadolu Agency. In Syria's provinces of Hama, Aleppo, Idlib, and Latakia on the other side of the border, thousands more people have been impacted.

Bad Weather

Sinem Koseoglu of Al Jazeera reported from Istanbul that inclement weather could impede rescue operations in earthquake-affected areas across the nation.

She said that due to the snow, wind, and rain, in Istanbul and heavy snowfall in Ankara, flights from Ankara and Istanbul to eastern Turkey have been canceled. It will be challenging to reach the affected areas.

Infrastructure Damage

Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government has temporarily interrupted export flows of its crude oil through the Kurdistan-Turkey pipeline leading to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, as a result of the earthquake.

Lawk Ghafuri, the spokesperson for the Kurdistan Regional Government, said that The exportation will resume after careful inspection of the pipelines finalized.

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Help Offered

Hungary and Italy have also offered to send rescue teams to Turkey. To arrange additional assistance, should it be required, the Emergency Response Coordination Centre of the European Union is in direct contact with the Turkish government.

The EU announced that it is ready to help Syria through its humanitarian aid programs. Given the ongoing repression of the civilian population in the nation, the EU Council in May 2022 advanced its sanctions against President Bashar Assad's regime for an additional year, extending to June 2023.

Ankara and Damascus have received condolences from Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as an offer of support, Moscow's Tass reported. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement saying His nation had received and would reach out should Turkey and Syria request assistance, CNBC reports.

Historical Figures

In 1999, Izmit was devastated by a tremor in Turkey of comparable size to the recent earthquakes, which killed over 17,000 people. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the president of Turkey, described it as the nation's worst disaster since 1939, when an earthquake left more than 32,000 people dead and more than 100,000 injured, The Guardian reports.