Buildings collapsed during an earthquake in the city of Golbasi in Turkey's Adiyaman province on February 8, 2023.
Ankara – The devastating earthquake that struck the area on the border between Turkey and Syria on Monday claimed more than 16,000 lives, AFP wrote. At least 12,873 people died in Turkey alone, the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (AFAD) said this morning. Tens of thousands are injured, thousands of houses have collapsed and many more are at risk.
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Photo gallery: Earthquake in Turkey and Syria
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The DPA agency points out that the number of confirmed victims in Turkey has increased by about 3,000 in a few hours. There are more than 62,000 injured in this country, and about 8,000 people have so far been rescued from the rubble. The earthquake affected more than 13 million people. On the Syrian side, according to the latest available data, there are 3,162 dead and over 4,600 wounded.
In addition to Turkish rescuers, teams from dozens of countries around the world, including firefighters and rescuers from the Czech Republic, are working in the affected areas. Under the rubble, they are searching for trapped people, however, as time passes since the earthquake, the hope of saving the living diminishes. In Syria, aid is complicated by the complex domestic political and security situation. The disaster hit both government-held areas in Damascus and regions under the control of rebel groups. In northwestern Syria, millions of people were already dependent on humanitarian aid before this disaster.
“The region, which has been plagued by crises for years, is facing another crisis with unimaginable losses and damages,” DPA quoted Corinne Fleischer, regional director of the World food program (WFP) for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe.
“The first 72 hours are critical,” natural disaster expert Steven Godby from the University of Nottingham told the AP, according to whom the chances on survival under the rubble reduces to 22 percent.
