Attachments
Glide №: EQ-2023-000015-TUR
SITUATION OVERVIEW
On 6 February 2023, at 04:17, a magnitude 7.7 2 earthquake occurred, followed by 83 aftershocks at a maximum level of 6.7. At 13:24 on the same day, a second earthquake occurred, with a magnitude of 7.6. The earthquakes severely affected the 10 provinces of Kahramanmaras, Adana, Hatay, Gaziantep, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Malatya, Sanliurfa, Kilis and Osmaniye, where about 13.5 million people were residing. Almost two weeks after the initial earthquake, a separate 6.4 magnitude earthquake hit the Defne district, close to the Syrian border in Hatay province, on 20 February. This was followed by a 5.8 magnitude earthquake on the same evening in Samandag district, Hatay, causing further destruction to the already heavily damaged area. Since 6 February, over 24,000 tremors were recorded in the area.
According to the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), as of 5 April 2023, 107,204 people were reported injured and 50,339 have lost their lives following the earthquakes. Approximately three million people have been displaced, including an estimated 528,146 evacuated by the government. More than half a million buildings have sustained damage, of which at least 298,000 have either collapsed or been severely damaged.
These represent some of the largest earthquakes to have hit Türkiye in the last century, and one of the deadliest disasters experienced by the country. The fact that the earthquakes occurred during the early hours of the day, may have further magnified injuries and loss of life.
The earthquakes struck in areas that have been impacted, since 2011, by the protracted humanitarian crisis linked to the civil war in Syria. Before the disaster, the affected region was already hosting approximately 1.8 million Syrian refugees, which represented, as of January 2023, 47% of all Syrian refugees in the country. These populations live in Türkiye under the temporary protection regime, which allows them residency and access to social services. Tensions between refugees and host communities had been rising before the earthquakes, and the past three years have seen a steady degradation of social cohesion in the affected areas. The disaster has put even more pressure on both refugee populations and host communities, stretching limited capacities. The ongoing economic crisis is also of concern, especially considering that the region affected by the earthquakes already had higher poverty rates than the coastal areas. The disaster impacted critical infrastructure and led to extensive loss of livelihoods: losses and damage to crops, food stocks, agricultural infrastructure and assets, and livestock production are estimated at USD 6.4 billion. Two months after the disaster, the combined effects of the destruction of workplaces, interruption of economic activities, loss of life, injuries, and internal displacement still severely compromise the ability of households to meet their basic needs.
As the largest humanitarian organisation in the country and an auxiliary to the public authorities in the humanitarian field with a wide reach to vulnerable communities, the Turkish Red Crescent (TRC) continues to use its extensive in-country assets, human resources, as well as government and civil society relations, to respond to the urgent needs and for effective and efficient implementation of activities across all sectors, including disaster management, blood services, social services, and migration services. At the same time, the TRC has a leading role in the mass nourishment working group and has been providing hot meals since the beginning of the response.
EMERGENCY APPEAL REVISION Since 7 February 2023, when the initial International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Emergency Appeal (EA) was published, the situation in Türkiye has evolved. During the first weeks of the operation, humanitarian needs were predominantly tied to search and rescue efforts, as well as to the delivery of immediate life-saving assistance. Given the scale of the devastation, it was apparent from the beginning that the relief and recovery efforts would be on a large scale and would require significant investment and time to address the main drivers of the crisis. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) led a multi-sectoral rapid assessment (MIRA) with the involvement of the TRC, IFRC, and all UN entities within the country and INGOs. The TRC and IFRC acted as enablers of this assessment, with support for data collection, analysis, and visualisation. Subsequently, a recovery assessment and plan was completed to inform the TRC's overall strategy for the next 24 months. Building on available assessments and analysis, four main areas of severe impact have emerged:
• Shelter, Housing, and Settlements
• Food and Livelihoods
• Health and Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene
• Protection, Gender, and Inclusion
The severity of needs is likely to continue to evolve, with additional complexities and scenarios arising based on how recovery progresses in the mid- to long-term. Humanitarian conditions are expected to further worsen due to: i) inflation, financial/resource pressures, and education withdrawal, and ii) migration and escalating intracommunity tensions. Based on the assessments and anticipated needs, this Federation-wide Emergency Appeal has been increased to a total funding ask of CHF 750 million, to effectively and consistently respond to the ongoing, and mid-to-long term recovery needs on the ground.
TARGETING
More than 16 million people have been affected by the earthquake, across 17 provinces, 9.1 million of them directly. Through this EA, the TRC is aiming to support around 1,250,000 people in the affected areas, targeting families and individuals based on the level of impact, pre-existing vulnerabilities, and any assessed gaps in the coverage of humanitarian services stemming from the immense scale of needs. People targeted by the immediate response are concentrated in the affected provinces, moved to temporary shelter arrangements, remaining in homes where structural integrity assessments have determined an adequate level of safety and security, or evacuated to the immediate surrounding regions. Given the impact of the disaster on urban centres, especially vulnerable groups such as the urban poor, people living in informal settlements and others most at risk will be given additional attention while a key focus will be on designing programmes that strengthen the resilience of urban communities. Generally, after the immediate phase of mass relief efforts in the areas of shelter and nourishment, short-term targeting will prioritise households affected by the loss or injury of family members, loss of shelter and livelihoods, and/or affected by internal displacement, and people with pre-existing vulnerabilities, such as those with refugee status. Mid-to-long-term recovery programmes will also consider the knock-on effects of the earthquake on economic and food insecurities, physical and mental well-being, and the capacity of individuals to recover and cope with the aforementioned effects.
The main objectives include covering immediate needs in shelter; food and livelihoods; first aid and community health, mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), and mobilising blood supplies; addressing basic needs through the distribution of relief items and provision of multi-purpose cash; and ensuring protection services and safeguarding. Recovery efforts will build on the TRC’s strong, locally established community presence. An indepth recovery assessment, based on both primary data collection (focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and household surveys) and secondary data review, informed the development of a comprehensive recovery plan. The aim is to progressively move people from a first track (meeting evolving needs) to a second (enabling economic recovery) and from being dependent on assistance to once again being independent and self-sufficient. The objective is to eventually restore and maintain resilient communities and individuals.