NEWS
TREMORS FELT ACROSS THE WORLD The Kahramanmaras Earthquakes and Their Aftermath
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magnitude 7.8 earthquake known as the Kahramanmaras Earthquake hit northwestern Syria and southeastern Turkey on February 6. After the deadliest earthquake since the 2011 earthquake in Fukushima, Japan, 10 provinces in Turkey are under a state of emergency for the next three months. The Hatay, Kahramanmaras, and Gaziantep provinces were hit the hardest. As of February 23, the death toll has surpassed 49,000; while Turkish authorities have reported more than 43,000 deaths and UN reports have estimated 5,500 deaths in Syria, casualties are expected to rise in coming weeks. Additionally, more than 5,600 buildings across southeastern Turkey have completely collapsed, leaving 380,000 people in the region homeless and without shelter, food, or access to medical care and rescue assistance. The conditions of this ongoing humanitarian crisis have
18 TUFTS OBSERVER MARCH 6, 2023
drawn stark attention to the inadequate response from the Turkish and Syrian governments, as well as from the international system. Senior Sedrah Mashhour, co-president of the Tufts Arab Student Association, discussed the geopolitical climate in Syria prior to the earthquake, which “hit a region [of northern Syria] that has already been really heavily impacted by not only the Syrian Civil War, but also… it contains a huge population of [internally displaced refugees].” Mashhour said that prior to the earthquakes, it was almost impossible to survive on just a teacher’s salary, despite the fact that it’s considered a top job, due to the terrible economic conditions in Syria. Now, people “don’t have shelter, period. They don’t have access to clean water. There’s no sewage system in place. Food is hard to get. It’s the middle of winter now. So, hypothermia is a huge and real concern,” according to Mashhour. Yet in the aftermath of one of the most destructive earthquakes to have hit the region, the Turkish and Syrian governments have been unresponsive. Mashhour explained that the Syrian government has not taken any substantial effort to help Syrians affected by the earthquake due to the civil war. She added, “Personally, I don’t
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think that the Syrian government is really interested in helping citizens based on what we’ve seen for the past decade.” In Turkey, no military forces were sent to the affected areas, and residents in regions impacted by the earthquakes who attempted to get in contact with the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) received no response. Furthermore, from February 8 to early morning on February 9, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan banned Twitter to reportedly stop disinformation from spreading and to limit the criticism toward the Turkish government. By banning Twitter for 12 hours, Erodgan effectively limited a crucial way in which people could share their or loved ones’ locations for rescue efforts. This inadequate earthquake response is a consequence of the Turkish government’s shift to a centralized presidential system in 2018 and decisions to cut funding and support for the government’s disaster response agencies. This year, the AFAD budget was cut by almost a third, and AFAD now falls under the interior ministry, which reports to the presidency. The reduced funding and centralization of AFAD limited its ability to mobilize