An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8, with at least 78 aftershocks have been reported followed by a second earthquake of 7.5 magnitude, at a depth of 17.925 km (11.14 miles) has occurred at Central Turkey near the city of Gaziantep, as reported by the National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) of the USGS on February 06, 2023, 01:41:15 UTC. Preliminary analysis indicates that this is a very strong earthquake, and it is very shallow (shallower quakes generally tend to be more damaging than deeper quakes).
Widespread building collapse has been reported in southeast Turkey and northern Syria. The earthquake was also felt across Lebanon, Cyprus and the region while it is expected that aftershocks which may be at the same intensity as the initial earthquake will be felt for weeks. In Syria, there have been 783 deaths based on early reports (403 in the government-controlled areas and 380 in the uncontrolled areas), 1,315 injuries, and 4,000 damaged buildings and still hundreds of trapped civilians under the rubble.
Death toll has reached more than 1,500 based on the latest reports in Turkey, less than 24 hours after the disaster, and 2,300 have been injured and search and rescue operations are ongoing in several major cities, and a total of 1,718 collapsed buildings destroyed in Turkey’s Gaziantep and Kahramanmaras provinces, said Vice President Fuat Otkay.
The Syrian population was already deeply affected by the ongoing war and the economic collapse of the country and now, many people must deal with being displaced, losing their livelihood, and fighting the harsh winter conditions.
Due to the nature of this emergency, the forum is planning to respond , by requesting RRF as an emergency support and then may be followed by an appeal, based on the results of the assessment. Budgets have not been estimated as members are still conducting their assessments, which will be presented during the Emergency Steering Committee meeting.
