It was early on Monday when a magnitude 7.8 earthquake shook large parts of Turkey and Syria, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake. The earthquake severity was unrivalled in Turkey in 24 years.
Thousands of deaths and injuries have already been documented, totaling in 8400 victims and much more to come. Buildings fell down in villages and towns throughout the neighbouring nations as well as on both sides of the front line between the opposition- and government-controlled portions of war-torn Syria.
The home began to fall apart as we were leaving, Alloush, a father to dozens of children tell reporters. “While I was sheltering my granddaughter, falling debris wounded my finger, which delayed our evacuation from the residence and I subsequently sustained a number of other cuts and bruises,” the man added.
Alloush, who had tears in his eyes, claimed that two other families who also resided in the same building were unable to escape in time. He wishes his neighbors could be saved. Only “horror” can adequately depict the horror people saw yesterday during the earthquake.
The deadly tremor has caused survivors in Aleppo’s northern countryside and the Idlib province to seek safety in the streets and public spaces. The problem has gotten worse because of the chilly climatic conditions.
Children, mothers, and the elderly slept outside without access to heaters to keep them warm. Many young guys rushed to aid in the hunt for survivors among the wreckage of collapsed buildings by rescue teams.
Members of the White Helmets, a rescue organisation working in opposition-held areas of Syria, claimed the region’s northwest already had insufficient infrastructure due to constant airstrikes.
Assistance Campaign; Earthquake in Syria
Multiple groups and committees are working round-the-clock to rescue those who are buried in the wreckage of demolished structures. Over 133 structures were entirely destroyed, while another 272 were damaged. Numerous others have lost their structural integrity.
Teams from the civil defence and volunteer organisations kept looking for survivors. Clinics and hospitals in Syrian Idlib were under increasing strain, but they are not set up to handle a lot of injuries.
The earthquake, according to the field director of the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS), was disastrous. SAMS is a nonprofit organisation that helps Syrians in need. Hundreds were served in SAMS facilities for injuries caused by home demolition debris, and we also took in 120 bodies.
Reporters and activists urged coordinated action to improve current medical infrastructure for treating the injured. With the continuation of search and rescue activities, it is anticipated that the number of people in need would rise. Rescuers and rights organisations urged the world community to act to save people and offer relief to survivors.
It is crucial that Syrians be not left to deal with the fallout alone in the middle of a winter storm and an extraordinary cost-of-living problem.
The disaster would make life even worse for a people already dealing with the terrible effects of an almost 12-year-long war. Many more people will be uprooted by the calamity in addition to the millions who have already been forced to evacuate due to fighting in the area.
