The recent earthquake that has hit south Turkey and Northern Syria has been devesting on many levels. Hundreds of deaths and injuries have been reported, with the numbers expected to rise.
Several victims are still waiting for rescue and relief teams to save them as the conditions are deteriorating.
With many shortages in food, water, housing, and medical supplies, your donations will make a difference and save lives.
What happened on the night of Monday, Feb. 6?
Thousands of people in Turkey and Northern Syria experienced one of the scariest nights in their lives. On Monday, Feb. 6, devastating earthquakes left a massive death toll of 11,224 and thousands of others injured. The first earthquake -with a magnitude of 7.8- struck the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep, 150 miles away from the Turkey-Syria border, at 4:17 local time.
The second earthquake struck Turkey’s Kahramanmaras province (80 miles north of Gaziantep) at 1:24 p.m. local time.The Turkish government said that these earthquakes were followed by 300 aftershocks. In addition, Kenan Akbayram, a geologist at the University of Bingöl, highlighted that it would be difficult to predict how long the aftershocks might continue afterward.
Hundred thousands of victims and counting
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the final death toll could rise as high as 20,000 from both the Turkish and Syrian sides. In addition to the loss of lives, the massive destruction has reduced thousands of buildings to rubble.
The former Turkish journalist from the city of Malatya, one of the cities affected by the quake, said that at least hundreds of victims may be trapped under the rubble of the collapsed buildings in the Turkish city. Pickle also believes that as temperatures dropped to -6C (21F), some of the victims may have been frozen to death. Still, there are massive shortages of rescue efforts by international and governmental teams. Road closures, torrential rain, and cold temperatures have impeded the mobility and access of rescuers.
“We hear their voices, they’re still alive,” an earthquake survivor..
The catastrophe has even worsened the conditions in war-stricken north-western Syrian areas, as many families were trapped under the rubble. One of the victims in the town of Jandairis has told the AFP news agency that he lost 12 members of his family to the earthquake, with other people reporting that their families are still under the debris of their destroyed houses. “We hear their voices, they’re still alive, but there’s no way to get them out,” one of the victims said.
In Northwest Syria, there are around 4.1 million people relying on humanitarian aid, the majority of whom are children and women. Furthermore, many of the damaged areas in Syria were struggling with an ongoing outbreak of cholera along with battling harsh winter storms, freezing temperatures, strong winds, and heavy rain.
A humanitarian crisis in Northwest Syria compounded by the quake..
The earthquake has compounded the humanitarian crisis in Northwest Syria, as the civil war has left more than hundreds of thousands of deaths and left most of the neighborhoods deprived of the basic infrastructure and facilities in many sectors, hospitals included.
Not only did the catastrophic events leave material damage and losses of lives, but their psychological and emotional toll might extend a lifetime, especially with children. Although many NGOs and charity organizations have sent immediate relief to the affected areas in Turkey and Northern Syria, the victims still need many necessities, such as food, water, shelter, medical assistance, winter clothes, blankets, and more.
Join our relief efforts in Bonyan
Our agency, Bonyan, in cooperation with local authorities and other charitable NGOs, is working on providing the victims of the disaster with the needed support.
Join hands with us in our mission to help the impacted with essential aid during this crisis. Your donation can be the only hope left for those people who lost their loved ones, their houses, and their belongings in this crisis. Many children were deprived of one of their parents or both of them, which left them orphaned.
By donating and encouraging your family and friends to donate, you can extend a helping hand to the victims and the relief teams on the ground. The shortages in the basic necessities that those victims need are further exposing their lives to risk.
Moreover, the generous donations will help improve Bonyan’s relief efforts aimed at rescuing the injured and quake survivors with the necessary medical tools and other basic necessities.