Where did the 2023 Turkey and Syria earthquake strike?
The powerful earthquake’s epicenter was near Nurdağı and Gaziantep, where millions of Syrian refugees live, just outside the regional capital. The quake added more misery along the border, an area beset by the nearly 12-year Syria conflict and refugee crisis. Turkey hosts the largest number of refugees in the world, some 3.6 million Syrians, according to the UNHCR, which runs one of its most extensive operations from Gaziantep.
Turkey-Syria earthquake live news: UN calls for more aid
Published On 10 Feb 202310 Feb 2023
- The death toll from the Turkey-Syria earthquakes has passed 21,000. At least 17,674 people have been killed in Turkey, according to Vice President Fuat Oktay, while at least 3,377 are known to have died in Syria.
- The World Bank has promised $1.78bn to Turkey in relief and recovery assistance.
- UN chief Antonio Guterres is calling on the international community to provide more money for earthquake relief and announces a donor conference for next week.
- The first United Nations aid convoy has reached opposition-held northwest Syria from Turkey. The crossing is the only way UN assistance can reach civilians without going through areas controlled by the Syrian government.
Hope turns to despair in Turkey, Syria 72 hours after earthquakes
Kahramanmaras and Gaziantep, Turkey and Harem, Syria – While rescuers continue to work frantically to save survivors from the rubble of collapsed buildings in Turkey, the chances of finding many more people alive are fading rapidly more than 72 hours after the devastating earthquakes.
Turkey’s President Erdogan said at least 14,000 people died in the country from the earthquakes on Monday, while 3,162 people died in Syria, bringing the confirmed total to more than 17,000.
In Kahramanmaras, one of the worst-hit Turkish cities close to the epicentre, rescuers worked relentlessly to pull people from the rubble.
Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar, reporting in front of a collapsed hotel in Kahramanmaras on Thursday, said an estimated 60 people remained under the rubble of the building.
“Unfortunately, since last night, no one came out of the rubble alive,” he said. “But some dead bodies – completely burned – have been taken out from the rubble by the rescue teams. There is a fire – it’s not clear what the source is, but it’s making the extraordinary work of the rescue teams even more difficult.”
Nearly 1,000 buildings in the southern Turkish city have collapsed, and more than 600 people are confirmed to have died there.
Serdar said many people had gathered by the rubble of the hotel, waiting for news of their loved ones, but that it was extremely cold in the city, especially overnight.
Nine specialist firefighters from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service have been deployed to Turkey following this week’s devastating earthquake.
They are part of a team of 77 UK search and rescue specialists who have arrived in Gaziantep, alongside equipment and four search dogs.
The UK International Search and Rescue team is made up of firefighters and staff from 14 fire and rescue services from across the country.
They will be using specialist search equipment including:
- seismic listening devices
- concrete cutting and breaking equipment, and
- propping and shoring tools
Their world-class specialist skills and state-of-the-art heavy duty equipment will allow the UK team to cut their way into buildings and locate survivors in the rubble during this vital time.
The team is self-sufficient upon arrival and provides its own food, water, shelter, sanitation, communications and all necessary equipment to undertake search and rescue operations.