It was early Monday morning when the people of Turkey and Syria woke up to an earthquake’s powerful and horrifying tremors. The 7.8 magnitude quake was followed by 2 more big ones within a few hours, leading to thousands of deaths in the region.
The National Earthquake Centre of Syria has stated the quake to be the strongest to hit the region in more than 100 years. This natural calamity has wiped out an entire section of major Turkish cities. Affecting millions of people who had fled the civil war in Syria and taken shelter in the region.
The initial quake was followed by more than 275 aftershocks, including a major 7.5 & a 6- magnitude tremor that jolted the city amidst the rescue operations.
Turkey, where a large part of the city is covered under the snow, has sent a formal request to NATO seeking help in dealing with the situation The country requires medical assistance, rescue units along with extreme weather proof, fully equipped field hospitals to deal with the situation.
While the world has united to help the affected in the best possible manner, the shocked survivors in Turkey would require way more than medical or financial help.
While the freezing temperature is already a hurdle in the rescue operations, officials have also cut off natural gas and power supply in the region as a precautionary measure.
With the death toll crossing 4300; thousands of others have been left on roads to gather the pieces of their lives together.
Turkey is one of the world’s most active earthquake zones. A 7.8- magnitude earthquake, back in 1939 took 33,000 lives. The region also suffered a 7.4- magnitude quake in 1999 leaving 17,000 dead.
