Earthquake in Turkey and Syria: inadequate aid, displaced people in the streets
“Everything is still shaking here, we don’t know what to do anymore! All of Aleppo is in the streets!” Last night, at 8 p.m. local time, about two weeks after the earthquake of February the 6th a second quake of 6.5 magnitude struck Turkey and Syria with epicenter between Antioch in Turkey and Latakia, a Syrian costal city. New buildings collapsed in Aleppo, Latakia, but mostly in the village of Knayeh in the province of Idlib causing many injuries.
Earthquake emergency: still dead and injured, thousands displaced
““Rescues are inappropriate – our collaborator from Aleppo, Jacob, tells us – and we are terrified. At least other 1000 people more asked us for a shelter, but many of them slept on the street, in makeshift tents in sub-zero temperatures!“
Even in Latakia, Pro Terra Sancta’s welcoming facilities took in at least 500 more people, “At one point,” -they recount – “there was a shortage of mattresses and blankets for everyone, and we didn’t know how to accommodate anymore due to lack of space. Just yesterday we had begun the scouting of houses to allow families to return, but they returned to us because the tremor had further damaged the buildings. Even in Knayeh, in areas still controlled by jihadists, there were new collapses and many more injured.“.
Earthquake: latest news from the field
In this ongoing emergency situation, it is very hard to evaluate the damages to the buildings. Over the past days in Aleppo, the first rescue teams of engineers had begun reconnaissance and we had mapped the initial reconstruction needs. It turned out that at least 30% of the solar panels installed for families through last year’s fundraising campaign are unfortunately very damaged. This new earthquake seems to have caused additional damages and the reconnaissance should be made again and the houses that were classified as accessible must be rechecked.
But above all, more and more people are in need of urgent aid: food, medicine, covers, essential goods. That is why we can only strongly renew our call to support the fundraising campaign activated by Pro Terra Sancta in the hours immediately following the earthquake that devastated Turkey and Syria. Now more that ever your help is essential!
