Earthquake in Türkiye and Syria: Dünya Doktorları/Médecins du Monde in solidarity with the people of Türkiye and Syria
As massive earthquakes have just struck Türkiye and Syria, killing at least 1,400 people, Dünya Doktorları/Médecins du Monde is working on the spot to assess the needs and deploy an emergency response in the affected regions.
On the night of February 6, 2023, at 4:17 a.m. local time, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Türkiye and Syria. Epicentered in the district of Pazarcık in the province of southern province of Kahramanmaras, near Gaziantep (southeastern Türkiye), the earthquake hit the region second time in the afternoon of the 6th at 13:24 p.m with a magnitude of 7.6.
While the affected areas are still under rubble and the earthquakes have followed one another since last night, the human toll is already extremely heavy: At least 1,400 dead and more than 8,000 injured have been recorded. In Syria, at least 560 people are said to have been killed and 1,042 injured, with the majority of victims recorded in Aleppo, Hama, Latakia and Tartous. In Türkiye, the authorities count at least 1,121 dead and at least 7,634 injured so far. More than a thousand buildings have completely collapsed, raising fears of even higher human losses.
“For now, the most affected area seems to be Hatay. There is a lot of destruction of buildings, especially in the new part of the city,” tells Hakan Bilgin, the Head of Dünya Doktorları/Médecins du Monde Türkiye.
A human toll which should unfortunately increase further in the hours to come with the clearing of the rubble, but also in view of the thousands of people who are now homeless, destitute and potentially out of care, while winter temperatures are approaching zero.
While Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu has already appealed for international assistance in the face of the scale of the disaster, Dünya Doktorları/Médecins du Monde is already acting on the spot to help the victims.
Working in the region to provide healthcare services for the people affected by the Syrian conflict in particular, Dünya Doktorları/Médecins du Monde has been directly impacted by this series of earthquakes. Some of our healthcare staff have lost their loved ones, several other members of our teams are still unreachable, and some of our infrastructures have been damaged or even destroyed.
To respond to this crisis, our teams are currently assessing the needs and emergencies of the populations directly affected by the earthquake, in coordination with the local authorities and the international organizations in the area.
"Our priority is saving people trapped under the rubbles. Most of people are missing," Hakan Bilgin says.
Our teams will remain mobilized for the next few hours to provide emergency aid to all affected populations in Türkiye and Syria, and also over the longer term to support impacted local health systems. Dünya Doktorları/Médecins du Monde International Network acts to meet the multiple needs of the affected populations (care, food, shelter, etc.) and launches an appeal for generosity from the public to support it in its action.