Over 33,000 Dead from Earthquakes in Turkey, Syria

Daniel Reiley

Staff Contributor

NOTE: This story contains the latest figures as of February 12.

More than 33,000 people have died and more than 75,000 are injured after two earthquakes struck Turkey and Syria on Monday, Feb. 6. While earthquakes are not uncommon in Turkey, these earthquakes are being considered one of the worst natural disasters of the century, and the death toll is expected to rise.

The first earthquake, with a 7.8 magnitude, struck the city of Gaziantep in southeast Turkey, roughly 150 miles from the Turkey-Syria border, at 4:17 a.m. local time, which reached a depth of 11 miles. The second earthquake, with a 7.5 magnitude, hit the city of Kahramanmaras in Turkey, roughly 80 miles north of Gaziantep, at 1:24 p.m. and was six miles deep. Both quakes destroyed around 6,000 buildings. The quakes could be felt as far as Lebanon, Greece, Israel and Palestine. Around 13.5 million Turks and millions more Syrians have been affected by the quakes.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been Turkey’s president for almost 20 years, visited Kahramanmaras, which is currently the epicenter of the earthquakes.

“We are face to face with a great disaster,” Erdogan told survivors.

However, many in Turkey, including politicians, have blamed Erdogan for the slow response in rescue aid. Erdogan has blamed the shortcomings on winter weather conditions and failing infrastructure for the lack of aid to survivors.

“[The Justice and Development Party] failed in this as they failed in every other issue, they don’t know how to manage the state,” said Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the Republican’s People Party, the main opposition party in Turkey. “If there is anyone responsible for this process, it is Erdoğan. It is this ruling party that has not prepared the country for an earthquake for 20 years.”

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on Thursday that the first relief convoy reached northern Syria, which is also facing freezing winter conditions. “More help is on the way, but much more, much more is needed,” Guterres said. President Biden has also sent aid to Turkey and Syria.

“At my direction, senior American officials reached out immediately to their Turkish counterparts to coordinate any and all needed assistance,” Biden said on Feb. 6. “Our teams are deploying quickly to begin to support Turkish search and rescue efforts and address the needs of those injured and displaced by the earthquake.”

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from 8-9 p.m. in Harley

MPR. President Patterson and members of his cabinet and other administrators will be present to answer questions and concerns from students. He also announced that RHA will be holding a “Mocktails” event March 29 from 7-9 p.m. in the CUB.

SGA Vice President of External Affairs Harun Pacavar announced that SGA has set a date for their movie night. SGA will be hosting a showing of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” in Orndorff Theater (CUB 123) on Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. Pacavar also mentioned that he was working with the Political Science department on partnering for multiple events.

Multicultural Student Affairs (MSA) Senators McArthur and Elhossian announced a slate of events being held by MSA in honor of Black History Month, including a Poetry Cafe, a Black Wall Street Entrepreneur fair and a movie discussion. Additional information as well as times and locations for these events can be found on MSA’s social media.

The Activities Programming Board announced that they have had an encouraging rise in event attendance, approaching pre-pandemic levels.

A representative from the Campus Media Board announced that WSYC is preparing for its “Up All Night” event. They also announced that SUTV will soon begin producing and broadcasting new programming, including an E-sports talk show, a cooking show and a game show.

During the public comment period, members of SGA were updated on a situation regarding a lack of furniture in Fireside Lounge (CUB 120) which has had a negative effect on use of the space by students and student groups. They were informed of recent progress and the potential for a resolution to the issue. Due to a large number of senators being absent, SGA did not reach a quorum, and was unable to conduct votes on any new business. The meeting was adjourned after 15 minutes.