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Turkey/Syria Earthquake
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Earthquakes struck
Southern Turkey
and North-West Syria along the
East-Anatolian
fault line
6th February 2023
Affected areas
Aleppo
,
Northern
Syria and Gaziantep, Southern Turkey
Turkey's fault lines
North Anatolian Fault
(NAF) and the
East Anatolian Fault
(EAF)
Hatay triple junction
Where the
Africa
, Arabian and
Eurasian
plates converge and has shifted North-East
East Anatolian Fault
(
EAF
)
700
km long and has slip rates of 10 mm/year decreasing from
east
to west
Strain had been continuously building up
Multiple
segments failed at once and
tremors
could even be felt from Cyprus, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq
Initial earthquake
Caused a
300
km surface rupture
11.4
m of vertical displacement
Damage
Liquefaction
damaged residential areas,
airports
and canals, resulting in flooding
Minor
tsunami
Impact
Affected
18
million people in Turkey and Syria, resulting in 55,000 deaths and
130,000
injuries - 5th deadliest in the past century
300,000
buildings, apartments, schools, hospitals and roads were destroyed
3rd costliest this century -> $
119
billion
Disruption in roads in rural areas
Resulted in
food shortages
and disruption to
farming income
Water and sewage pipes burst
Increased the risk of
cholera
Health facilities
Only
1/7
were functioning
Population
Suffered from
anxiety
, depression and
PTSD
Already
vulnerable
due to the ongoing
civil war
Corruption
and disregard of
building standards
Contributed to the
impact
Weather
5-10°
lower temperatures in February which caused
flooding
and survivors to be stranded outside in the cold
Timing
Struck at
4
:17 am when everyone was
asleep
Vulnerable population
2.5
million children in poverty
130,000
pregnant women
47
% Syrian refugees
⅓ lack education
15.3
% require humanitarian aid
90
% live below the poverty line
High
cost of living (
16
% increase)
Humanitarian aid
Only 1 functioning route between Turkey and Syria which was
damaged
and
delayed
for 3 days
Aid was provided by
60
countries
The UN donated $
50
million for emergency funding
$
1
billion for Turkey and $
400
million for Syria
The EU donated $
7.5
billion for reconstruction
Long-term
impacts
Long term
displacement
Reconstruction
of homes and infrastructure
90
% of refugees on humanitarian assistance
Economic decline and global inflation, food increase of
800
% resulting in
12.1
million people in food poverty
Heightened the risk of
child
labour, violence and
child
marriage
COVID-19
Caused
crowded
conditions and hard to implement global
health
measures
War in
Ukraine
Impacted
food supplies
Turkey's infrastructure
110
dams, with the largest in the world holding
cracks
from strain
Nuclear power plant
would put the
South-East Mediterranean
in danger
Istanbul
Located along the North
Anatolian
fault - home to
16
million people, and is expected to grow to 18 million
No level of
preparedness
can
mitigate
the impact of a strong earthquake