Turkey: Another earthquake occurred in Turkey on Sunday. The United States Geological Survey reported that the latest earthquake occurred 24 km south-east of Kahramanmaras, Turkey, with a magnitude of 4.7. Already last week’s earthquake has left many cities in the country in ruins. The USGS has informed that the current earthquake occurred at a depth of 15.7 km. The agency also informed that the earthquake occurred at 00:03:15 (UTC+05:30).
Relief efforts are still ongoing in Turkey. However, the death toll from these repeated earthquakes has risen to 33,000, and the hopes of saving all those under the rubble are dwindling day by day. Last week’s earthquake, which tore apart Turkey, registered a record of more than 7 on the Richter scale. The earthquake was the worst to hit Turkey since 1939.
Turkish officials tried to maintain order throughout the disaster zone. Legal proceedings have been initiated against the collapse of the buildings. In the central district of Antakya, one of the worst-hit cities in southern Turkey, business owners evacuated their shops early on Sunday to avoid looting. Residents and aid workers from other cities spoke of deteriorating security conditions. There are reports of looting in shops and collapsed houses.
President Tayyip Erdogan’s government has faced its worst national disaster in two decades in power. He also had to face many questions about his response to the earthquake. This has become a challenge at the time of preparations for the elections. Moreover, it is said that strict action will be taken to restrain the robbers who are raging like Sademia in the noise.
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In Syria, the disaster hit the rebel-held northwestern region the hardest. A decade of civil war has left many people who have already migrated multiple times displaced again. This area received less aid compared to the government owned areas.
“So far we have failed to deliver aid to the people of northwest Syria,” UN aid chief Martin Griffiths tweeted from the Turkey-Syria border, where only one crossing is open for US aid supplies.
Six days after the first earthquake, emergency rescue teams found survivors searching for help under the rubble that had still buried thousands.
Chinese rescue workers and Turkish firefighters rescued 54-year-old Syrian Malik Milandi from the rubble in Antakya, 156 hours after finding one person alive. A father, daughter, toddler and a 10-year-old girl were among those who survived the rubble of the collapsed buildings on Sunday, but such scenes have become rare as the death toll mounts relentlessly.
