February 11, 2023

Massive earthquake hits Turkey and Syria

Massive earthquake hits Türkiye* and Syria early Monday morning, and again in the afternoon

Update on February 11th 9am GMT: Death toll surpasses 24,208 – 20,665 in Türkiye and 3,543 in Syria. 93,000 survivors have been evacuated from the earthquake zone in Southeast Türkiye. Rescuers rig through rubble as hope for miracle is still alive to free more people like Yagiz, 10-day old baby after surviving 90 hours in debris, with his mother.

Update on February 10th 6am GMT: Death toll surpasses 21,000 – 17,674 in Türkiye, DEADLIEST earthquake since 1939 and 3,377 in Syria. Resue efforts continue for a fifth day in freezing conditions. Hope has NOT died yet. The United States granted aid license lifting Syrian sanctions for earthquake relief efforts to reach Syria. The United States will provide $85m in initial earthquake aid to Türkiye and Syria for medicine, shelter and other supplies.

Update on February 9th 6am GMT: Death toll is almost 16,000 – 12,973 in Türkiye and near 3,000 in Syria. 72-hour rescue window passed. Hope of finding more survivors is fading.

Update on February 8th 7am GMT: Death toll climbs up to 7,700 – 5,894 in Türkiye and 1,872 in Syria. Rescue workers continue to free survivors trapped in collapsed buildings while the temperature is below freezing, and time is running out. According to New York Times at least 8,000 people were rescued in Türkiye. 150,000 people left homeless to struggle in cold. Around 23 million people need help in the region struck by the most devastating earthquake in decades, said World Health Organization officials.

*Turkey officially changes name at UN to Türkiye on February 7th, effective immediately, to disassociate it from the bird of the same name and negative connotations associated with it.

Update on February 7th 6pm GMT: Death toll surpasses 6,200 – 4,500 in Turkey and 1,700 in Syria. Freezing weather does not slow down rescue workers from searching for survivors under debris.

Update on February 7th 8am GMT: Death toll reaches 4,800 – 3,381 in Turkey and 1,450 in Syria. Survivors spent the night in cars if available or on the street, avoided indoors.

February 6th

Death toll has exceeded 2,300 in both countries – 1,500 in Turkey and 810 in Syria – and likely to rise

An earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck at 4:17 a.m. local time (1:17 GMT) near the city of Gaziantep. It was one of the largest that has ever happened in Turkey. The last time an earthquake that strong hit was December 1939 and 30,000 people were killed. Today’s earthquake took 2 minutes to stop shaking. Dozens of aftershocks followed until the 7.5 magnitude tremor struck in the afternoon.

Buildings collapsed. Roads were destroyed. Survivors evacuated their homes to bear the shivering cold outside on the winter morning, magnifying their suffering and devastation. Gaziantep Castle, built 2000 years ago, collapsed as well as the mall in Diyarbakir. People were buried in debris.

Earthquakes are not unfamiliar to people who have lived in Turkey. The 1939 quake was followed by a magnitude 7.4 quake in August 1999 that killed more than 17,000 people. Earthquakes left physical and emotional scars on survivors.

My grandmother, one of the survivors of the earthquake in December 1939, had her house flattened by the strike. She decided to marry my grandfather who was a carpenter to build their new house.

I was not thinking of anything near as large as the quake from 1939 or today when I described an earthquake from Maya’s perspective in the short story “A Child at Play”:

“Maya woke up with a violent jolt. It was dark in her room. The streetlamp was not casting a shadow on the wall above her dresser mirror. It was pitch black. The mirror was not there anymore. She could sense that the dresser was getting closer before moving away and this motion repeated as if the dresser were in the hands of an angry monster. Why was the monster so angry? He was pushing away the walls with his legs – one leg for one wall at a time. When he switched his leg, the wall that he just pushed was coming back. Was he punishing Maya?”

In Turkey today, survivors could not find words to describe how they felt. Aftershocks refreshed their horrific memories. As the day is ending, the temperature is dropping, food is getting scarce, and they realize it’s not even close to the end of the nightmare. A long night is waiting for them without a blanket. They fear that help may reach them too late.

Alper Mavi, Gaziantep’s regional coordinator for the International Blue Crescent Relief and Development Foundation (IBC) said on the phone that there is not enough shelter or food. He is a survivor, along with his family.

My cousin, Serkan Kuser, reported people are waiting for warm soup in Malatya and documented the scene in a photograph.

It is the time to help! Here is the list of ways for us to reach the victims of the earthquake:

Updated on February 10th

Turkish Philanthropy Funds – Earthquake Relief Fund: https://donate.tpfund.org/campaign/gaziantep-earthquake-fy23/c465112

Raised $5,169,371. Thank you, Hamdi Ulukaya for his generous support -$1 million. He is matching an additional $1 million.

MSF – Médecins Sans Frontières | Medical humanitarian organisation

Thank you, Ikea for the benevolent support – €10 million to provide medical assistance where needs are greatest.

BTF Relief Fund: BTF Disaster Relief Programs | Bridge to Türkiye Fund (bridgetoturkiye.org)

United Nations Crisis Relief: Türkiye-Syria Earthquake Appeal • UN Crisis Relief

UNICEF**: Devastating earthquakes strike Syria and Türkiye | UNICEF

Global Red Cross Turkiye** – Syria Earthquake Relief Fund: https://www.redcross.org/

International Rescue Committe**: International Rescue Committee | International Rescue Committee (IRC)

Thank you, JPMorgan Chase for the generous donation – $1 million. The firm is matching employee donations dollar for dollar to the select funds** above.

CDP – Disaster Philanthropy: Center for Disaster Philanthropy – Center for Disaster Philanthropy

Ahbap, a Turkish NGO, relief fund: Ahbap Platformu Resmi Sitesi

AKUT, a Turkish NGO search and rescue Association, established in 1995: AKUT Arama Kurtarma Derneği

Donation to Ahbap Relief Fund via credit card: https://fonzip.com/ahbap/bagis

Oxfam Turkey and Syria Relief Fund: Turkey and Syria Earthquake Appeal – Donate Now | Oxfam GB

IBC Relief fund for corporates: 7.8 Earthquake Emergency Response in Turkey& Syria – GlobalGiving

Raised $65,288

Turkey Mozaik Foundation: Kahramanmaras Earthquake Emergency Relief Fund – JustGiving

Raised £778,250

Crowdfunder : Earthquake relief for Türkiye – a Charities crowdfunding project in Türkiye by Dilara Sari (crowdfunder.co.uk)

Raised £118,971

Toktuk fund to provide food for survivors: Afet Gıda Yardımı | TOKTUT