Major Earthquake Kills Thousands in Turkey and Syria

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Early on February 6th, a powerful earthquake struck a large area of Turkey and Syria. More than 7,200 individuals have been confirmed dead, and hundreds of buildings have been wrecked. The earthquake was 18 kilometers deep and had a magnitude of 7.8, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Hours later, a 7.5 magnitude quake struck more than 100 kilometers away. Major fault lines run through the area, which frequently experiences earthquakes.

According to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, it was the worst catastrophe to hit the nation since an earthquake in eastern Turkey killed close to 33,000 people in 1939. However, nearly 18,000 people were also killed in comparably severe earthquakes that hit northwest Turkey in 1999. The death toll is anticipated to grow as rescue workers investigate the debris in cities and towns across the area. Rescue operations are becoming increasingly challenging due to the region's extreme cold and accompanying rain and snow. The Kahramanmaras province in southeast Turkey was the epicenter of the earthquake, which was also felt in Cyprus, Israel, and Egypt. It happened in a territory that had been affected by Syria's civil conflict for more than ten years on both sides of the border. On the Syrian side, the impacted regions are split between the country's last opposition-held territory and government-held territory.

Millions of refugees from that conflict now reside in Turkey. Four million people who fled other parts of the country due to war now reside in the opposition-held areas of Syria. Many of them reside in structures that have already suffered damage from the war. According to a statement from the opposition emergency organization, the White Helmets, hundreds of families were still trapped in the wreckage. In a large area extending from the Syrian cities of Aleppo and Hama to Diyarbakir, Turkey, more than 330 kilometers to the northeast, it was reported that thousands of structures had collapsed. Numerous countries, the European Union, and NATO have all offered to assist in the rescue efforts.