Turkey/Syria Earthquake

Cards (24)

  • 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