Voices are still being heard from under the wreckage in southern Turkey, more than a week after a powerful 7.8 earthquake slammed Turkey and Syria on February 6. This offers a faint hope of discovering additional survivors, even if the death toll has now surpassed 40,000. Tuesday saw the recovery of nine survivors from the ruins in Turkey; as a result, assistance efforts are now concentrated on assisting others who are currently enduring the extreme cold without enough shelter or food.
International assistance organisations are supporting the frantic Turkish rescue teams working round-the-clock, according to rescuer Salam Aldeen, who spent a week sifting through the rubble in Antakya, Turkey.
He sobbed as he added, “I have never seen so much death and so many dead bodies in my entire life.” “The circumstances are incredible; they resemble those in an Armageddon movie. The entire city has a deathly odour “USA Today cited Aldeen as stating.
Here are the most recent updates on the earthquake in Turkey and Syria:
- Over 41,000 people have died as a result of the catastrophe, which has destroyed cities in both Turkey and the neighbouring Syrian Arab Republic and left many surviving homeless in bitterly cold winter weather. More than a week after the devastating earthquake, rescue personnel in southern Turkey claimed they are still hearing sounds coming from beneath the rubble.
Two brothers, aged 17 and 21, were among those rescued on Tuesday from an apartment building in the Kahramanmaras province. A Syrian man and a young Turkish woman wearing a leopard-print headscarf were also found alive after spending more than 200 hours trapped in the rubble in Antakya. One of the rescuers indicated they could still need to look for more living people.
Some 212 hours after the terrible earthquake, sources stated that a 77-year-old man and an 18-year-old boy were also rescued from the wreckage in Turkey’s Adiyaman. - The issue, according to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who is running for office this year, is now under control. Erdogan stated during a televised speech in Ankara that “we are experiencing one of the greatest natural calamities not just in our nation but also in the history of humanity.”
The President declared, “We will keep working until every last citizen is removed from the damaged structures. - Families reported that they and their kids were coping with the psychological effects of the earthquake in both Turkey and Syria. In Aleppo, Syria, Hassan Moaz explained that his 9-year-old son always remembers after hearing a tremendous noise. When he hears a sound when he is asleep at night, he wakes up and calls out, “Dad, aftershock!”
The worst-affected districts have already seen a departure of more than 2.2 million people, and tens of thousands of structures are now untenable. - In Syria, where a 12-year civil war has hindered rescue efforts, the situation was especially dire. UN launched a $397 million appeal on Tuesday to supply “desperately needed, life-saving help for over 5 million Syrians” over the course of three months.
In order to facilitate the prompt distribution of humanitarian goods, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has agreed to open “the two border sites of Bab Al-Salam and Al Ra’ee” between Turkey and northwest Syria for an initial term of three months. According to the United Nations, the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria has impacted more than 7 million children. - India is still offering Turkey and Syria, who were both affected by earthquakes, life-saving medical aid through Operation Dost. Immediately sent to earthquake-affected countries were emergency relief supplies including critical care equipment, protective gear, and medicines that could save lives.
Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya stated that India is helping the two nations in the spirit of its longstanding Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam heritage.
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