On Feb. 6, 2023, one of the most cataclysmic earthquakes in recent memory occurred on the Eastern Mediterranean. Vast swaths of Turkey and Syria were utterly devastated with tremors being felt in Cyprus, Lebanon, Israel, and Palestine.
Citizens, particularly in Turkey and Syria continue to be unaccounted for as many are still trapped under the rubble. As natural disaster is a humanitarian issue that can happen to any nation at any given moment, now is a time to spread relief awareness to an already devastated region.
Background
The wider Eastern Mediterranean region has had a turbulent history with earthquakes as the Eurasian Plate sometimes interacts with the African Plate with the latter sometimes interdicting with the Arabian Plate. The results of the unstable plates have been near apocalyptic in history.
In 365 AD, an 8.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami killed tens of thousands of Roman citizens in Alexandria, Egypt. A major earthquake in 551 nearly depopulated Beirut, and two devastating tremors nearly destroyed the great city of Constantinople in 557 and 1509.
In the modern era, there have been several dozen quakes that have caused great devastation in Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, and the Levant. The 1939 earthquake was considered the worst in Turkey’s modern history up until the 2023. There was also another major one in 2020 off the coast of Izmir and the Aegean isles near the Ionian coastline.
2023 Earthquake
The Feb. 6 earthquake has been the biggest natural disaster since the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. It has encompassed much of Southern Turkey, Northern Syria, and tremors were felt in other areas of the region. The death toll is currently in the thousands with some estimates that it could increase to 20000 with civilians continuing to be unaccounted for the next few weeks.
Major provinces in Turkey, such as Adana, Gaziantep, Hatay, and others are nearly unrecognizable. Close to ten thousand buildings have already collapsed with more facing permanent damage. The cost of aid of recovery could very well reach into the hundreds of billions after assessments from international organizations.
Syria’s north was greatly affected, particularly Aleppo and Idlib, with other damage reported in Hama, Latakia, Tartus, and Homs. Like Turkey’s southern provinces, Syria’s north is also facing a humanitarian catastrophe, as millions of Syrian refugees have lived in enclosed camps between the two nations for the past decade.
Already low on medical and humanitarian supplies, the earthquake has exacerbated the humanitarian catastrophe and with heart of winter setting in, international aid is critical to save tens of thousands of Turkish and Syrian lives between both states.
Conflicts of Aid
Turkey and Syria are currently two nations with long-standing autocrats that have ruined international relations due to their policies. Turkey, which is a NATO member and EU candidate has seen a sharp response, particularly by the U.S who acted immediately. Washington and the EU have already sent rescue teams and will provide Ankara with anything they need to help the nation heal and recover.
Syria has become internationally isolated, as Assad has openly aligned with Russia, Iran, and terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah. The Caesar Act Sanctions have put a logistical strain on aid as international organizations are barred from doing business with Assad’s Syria, which has turned into the region’s largest narcotics state.
Nonetheless, the U.S. and EU are providing assistance to Northern Syria, without directly engaging with Assad as the Syrian government has attempted to blackmail the international community to send aid directly to Damascus first. Russia, China, and other MENA states are also providing aid directly to Syria.
Where to Donate
Despite the corruption and ties to embezzlement between the leading governments in Ankara and Damascus, there are independent NGOs currently providing on the ground aid that can directly be reached.
In Turkey, you can donate to the Turkish Red Crescent Dedicated Fund, AKUT Search and Rescue, Hayata Destek, İhtiyaç Haritası, and Kahramanmaras. Local Syrian aid organizations conducting lifesaving work are the Molham Team, the Syrian American Medical Society, the Union of Medical Relief and Care, and Project Hope. Unbiased international organizations you can also support include Doctors Without Borders and the International Rescue Committee.
Time is now of the essence to avoid another humanitarian catastrophe as millions of Turks and Syrians between both borders are in need of urgent care, food, water, medicine, and blankets. In the face of geopolitical disputes, at the end of the day we are humans first.
[Image credit: VOA]
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.
Julian McBride is a forensic anthropologist and independent journalist born in New York. He is the founder and director of the Reflections of War Initiative (ROW), an anthropological NGO which aims to tell the stories of the victims of war through art therapy. As a former Marine, he uses this technique not only to help heal PTSD but also to share people’s stories through art, which conveys “the message of the brutality of war better than most news organizations.”
