Themacforums – Turkish Authorities Arrest Developer of Block that Toppled in Earthquake. More than 11,200 people have officially died as a result of the deadly earthquake that slammed Turkey and neighbouring Syria, as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoan visited the epicenter.
As Erdoan visited the worst-hit provinces of Hatay and Kahramanmaras on Wednesday, he rejected rising criticism of the government’s response to Monday’s 7.8-magnitude earthquake and calls for it to provide additional relief to the disaster area, claiming that the rescue operation was improving every day.
The earthquake in Turkey has so far been proven to have killed 8,754 people, according to the Turkish president, while 2,470 people have now died in Syria, according to the civil defence. According to experts, the amount will increase much more and even double.
Erdoan advised people to ignore “provocateurs,” who he accused of inciting resentment at the rescue effort’s sluggish progress. In the wake of the earthquake, some people have been detained for social media posts.
Within hours following the first strong tremor, a second almost as strong quake struck, causing hundreds of buildings, including hospitals, schools, and apartment buildings, to collapse. Tens of thousands of people were injured, and limitless numbers were left homeless.
The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, declared that it was now “a race against time” to locate people suspected to be trapped as an army of rescuers continued to search through the wreckage of collapsed buildings in the subzero conditions.
The WHO has warned that the devastating earthquake could affect up to 23 million people and encouraged nations to send aid to the disaster area as soon as possible. Search teams and rescue supplies have started to arrive by air as dozens of countries, including the US, China, and several EU states, have committed their assistance.
However, a winter storm has compounded the rescue efforts, making several roads, some of which were already damaged by the earthquake, nearly impassable and causing miles-long traffic jams in some areas.
Anger was also directed at a “seismic fee” imposed by the Turkish government more than 20 years ago, which many in Turkey felt was a sluggish and insufficient response to the disaster.
The estimated 88 billion lira (£3.8 billion) charge, which was enacted in 1999 after a second, more devastating earthquake struck north-western Turkey, was meant to fund better emergency services and disaster prevention, but there is little information on its actual use.
In ten provinces, Erdoan has issued an emergency declaration. Residents of various affected cities, however, expressed their rage and hopelessness at the response of the authorities. “Not even a single person is present. Murat Alinak, whose home in Malatya fell and whose relatives are missing, told Reuters: “We are under the snow, without a home, without anything. Where can I go? What should I do?
People in isolated southern Turkish communities revealed how relief operations were overburdened by the devastation that covered a nearly 650-mile-long border region.
No rescue crews came in the city of Gaziantep in the first 12 hours following the accident, despite the urgent need to reach survivors immediately, according to witnesses who spoke to AFP. This forced victims’ relatives and local police to remove the ruins by hand. Residents informed the news agency that when the rescuers eventually arrived on Monday evening, they barely worked for a few hours before stopping for the evening.
Online, a large number of Turks expressed their rage at what they perceived as a careless emergency response in the southernmost province of Hatay, whining that rescue efforts had fallen short of the region.
The earthquake in Hatay destroyed government structures, including the regional office of Turkey’s AFAD disaster relief organizations.
The Middle East Institute analyst Gönül Tol expressed his rage, saying, “I am really angry.” “People are attempting to rescue loved ones who are buried under debris. There is no electricity and it is freezing. One family member has been waiting for hours for help under a large concrete slab.
Volunteers claim they will have to step in and carry out the difficult labor themselves if there are not enough rescues.
Ceren Soylu, a volunteer with the right-wing opposition yi party, stated, “We travel to places to help individuals who were originally supposed to be saved by the Red Crescent, but where no help comes.”
The cold and icy weather, as well as the sheer expanse of the impacted area, greatly hampered efforts to reach individuals affected throughout southern Turkey, according to Murat Harun Ngören, a coordinator with Akut, Turkey’s largest civil society help and rescue organization. Major earthquakes are frequently categorized as disasters. This is a tragedy, not just an earthquake, he declared.
The coordinator claimed that with each hour that passed, the threat to people buried beneath the rubble grew. “It might not be easy for the first 72 hours following such huge and catastrophic earthquakes to guarantee people get the right support,” he said. Logistics, transportation, and team coordination challenges are difficult.
ngören added: “When you combine the number of these collapsed buildings with other criteria, I can say that we are facing a difficult operation.” He also stated that the true number of destroyed buildings was likely to substantially exceed the confirmed figure thus far.
Aid workers expressed particular worry about the situation in Syria, which is already experiencing a humanitarian crisis following a nearly 12-year civil war. Deaths have been reported by Syrian officials as far south as Hama, which is 150 miles (250 km) from the epicenter.
