Crises persist three months after the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria

By Simon D. Kist, 10 May, 2023

Three months after the horrific earthquakes of February 6 in Turkey and Northwest Syria, resulting in over 60,000 deaths, thousands of injuries, and massive damage to infrastructure, the humanitarian needs across the earthquake affected region remain acute, warns the nongovernmental organization (NGO) CARE International. In a statement Tuesday, CARE said it remains committed to continue responding to increasing humanitarian needs in a fragile context.

"What we are witnessing in the earthquake affected areas in Turkey and Northwest Syria three months after the 6th of February, is devastating. Thousands of people have lost their lives, while millions of others have lost their homes, assets, and livelihoods", said Sherine Ibrahim, Country Director of CARE Turkey.

According to estimates, more than 500,000 houses in Turkey have been determined as requiring urgent demolition, collapsed, or severely damaged; while the economic damage for the houses impacted alone, is 54.7 billion US-Dollar. In Northwest Syria, more than 10,600 damaged buildings have been recorded and there is a minimum of 650,000 cubic meters of building debris that need to be removed.

"In Northwest Syria, this earthquake is a tragedy atop a tragedy, which will only magnify the existing needs of millions of displaced persons. I remain concerned about the devastating impact of the earthquakes, especially on women and children, who are now more heavily reliant on humanitarian aid to cover daily needs such as food, water, and shelter", Ibrahim added.

CARE said persisting issues such as water shortages and lack of adequate hygiene facilities across the earthquake zone pose significant health risks, especially for those residing in informal camps.

In Turkey, 2.3 million people have been identified as living in formal and informal settlements across earthquake affected areas. Out of this number, 1.6 million have been identified to be living in informal settlements or in rural areas close to their destroyed homes. 

In Northwest Syria, the earthquakes have added a crisis on top of a crisis for people who were already reeling from 12 years of conflict. Since the start of 2023, at least 4.1 million people in Northwest Syria relied on humanitarian aid to meet their most basic needs.

The consequences of the earthquakes have deteriorated drastically an already precarious humanitarian situation for people in both Turkey and Northwest Syria, who already suffered from inflation and a fragile food security in the region. 

At the same time, the pre-earthquake cholera outbreak in Syria remains a severe public health threat, which together with an extremely burdened healthcare system after 12 years of conflict, form the perfect storm for an outbreak of multiple crisis in the region.

According to the NGO, CARE teams, with support from its partners, have reached more than 37,000 people in Turkey and more than 570,000 individuals in Northwest Syria through food, shelter, water, sanitation, hygiene and protection activities, focusing on informal settlements that house people in the most affected provinces of South-central Turkey and on camps and communities hosting large numbers of internally displaced people in Northwest Syria. 

The international humanitarian organization also supports partner organizations in Northwest Syria with rubble removal activities and lending support to the operation of existing water stations to restore water networks.

On February 6, 2023, two of the strongest earthquakes in the region in more than 100 years, of 7.8 and 7.5 magnitude, occurred in southeastern Turkey. At least 18 million people have been directly affected by the devastating earthquakes that killed more than 60,000 women, men, and children and injured more than 100,000 in Turkey and Syria.  More than 9.1 million people in Turkey have been directly impacted by the disaster, while 8.8 million people in Syria have been affected by the devastating earthquakes. 

Further information

Full text: Three months after the earthquakes in Türkiye and northwest Syria, crises persist,  CARE International, press release, published May 9, 2023
https://www.care-international.org/news/three-months-after-earthquakes-turkiye-and-northwest-syria-crises-persist

 

Donate now to CARE International: 

CARE International: Turkey Syria Earthquakes Fund
https://my.care.org/site/Donation2?36068.donation=form1&df_id=36068

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