Hazardous Earth - Case Study - Turkey-Syria Earthquake - Earthquake Impacts

Question 1

When did the Turkey - Syria Earthquake occur?

Answer 1

• 6th February 2023

Question 2

What was the magnitude?

Answer 2

• 7.8

Question 3

Where was the earthquakes epicentre?

Answer 3

• 34km west of the city of Gaziantep in South Türkiye

Question 4

Why is Turkey vulnerable to earthquakes?

Answer 4

• It sits on the Anatolian plate, betwen the large tectonic plates of Eurasia, Arabia and Africa
• Under the Anatolian plate, there are 2 major faults - the North Anatolian fault and the East Anatolian fault

Question 5

What was this earthquake an example of?

Answer 5

• A strike-slip fault

Question 6

How did the earthquake occur?

Answer 6

• Where the Arabian plate is moving northwards and colliding with the Eurasia plate, which causes the Anatolian plate to be squeezed to the west
• The boundary between the Arabian and Anatolian plate is therefore a point of friction

Question 7

What occurred 10 hours after the initial earthquake?

Answer 7

• A 7.5 magnitude earthquake 128km to the North

Question 8

What was the depth of focus?

Answer 8

• 18km deep (shallow)

Question 9

What was the total affected area?

Answer 9

• 350,000 km2

Question 10

How many people were killed?

Answer 10

• over 56,000

Question 11

How many people were injured

Answer 11

• 100,000

Question 12

How many buildings were damaged across Türkiye?

Answer 12

• At least 4 million

Question 13

What were the secondary impacts of the Turkey-Syria Earthquake?

Answer 13

■ an estimated 2.7 million people made homeless in Türkiye

■ an estimated 5.37 million people made homeless in Syria

■ hypothermia became a major risk for people in makeshift accommodation due to snow and freezing winter temperatures

■ children became vulnerable to exploitation and abuse following separation from families

■ trauma and mental health issues

■ the Afrin dam in Syria was damaged and burst 3 days later, flooding the village of Al-Tloul, resulting in the displacement of approximately 500 families

■ over $100 billion damage in Türkiye

■ over $5.1 billion damage in Syria

Question 14

What were the exacerbating factors?

Answer 14

• There has been a civil war in Syria for the last 12 years
• Before the disaster, more than 6.5 million children in Syria needed humanitarian aid due to conflict.
• In 2021, Syria’s human development index (HDI) was 0.577, putting it at 150th out of 190 countries globally, largely due to the civil war, which has devastated its economy and forced over 80% of its population below the poverty line.
• Many Syrians in the northwest region were living in buildings hastily constructed and not designed to
  withstand earthquakes. Their collapse led to many fatalities and injuries.
• In Türkiye, there was widespread criticism of the collapse of many newly constructed buildings, despite having been built following new building codes which came into force after the 1999 Izmit earthquake. These codes, updated in 2018, were supposed to make buildings more resilient to earthquakes, however many were destroyed in this earthquake.

Question 15

What was the local response?

Answer 15

• Search-and-rescue teams were working
  their way through the rubble with the help of machinery and dogs.
• Some casualties were able to alert emergency services using their mobile phones and social media.
• The Turkish government reported teams of 60,000 officials being deployed to support the search effort and declared an official state of emergency.
• A number of venues were opened to shelter people, including mosques, shopping malls, stadiums, schools and community venues.
• Turkish airlines provided free flights to
  volunteers who wanted to help with the relief effort — in total they reported flying 11,780 volunteers from across Türkiye and evacuated a further 139,438 people.
• Damaged roads, bridges and airports made access particularly challenging.
• Several governments and organisations around the world also responded to the
  earthquake.
• The European Union (EU) dispatched rescue and medical teams alongside €3 million aid to Türkiye, and €3.5 million aid to Syria.
• NATO provided 1,000 containers to be used for temporary housing and the UN released $25 million
  from its emergency fund for Türkiye and Syria.
• Non-governmental organisations and charities such as the Red Cross and Disasters Emergency Committee have provided food, medical supplies, blankets, clean water and winter survival kits.

Question 16

What was the long term response?

Answer 16

• Long-term responses to this disaster include removing up to 210 million tonnes of rubble in Türkiye alone (14,000 football pitches worth) and constructing 500,000 new houses.
• The president of Türkiye has boldly committed to rebuild all collapsed buildings within a year.
• This recovery is likely to take much longer in Syria due to the lack of heavy machinery available and the resources required to rebuild.
• There has also been widespread criticism at the disparity in response between Türkiye and Syria.
• A major challenge to the response in Syria has been the instability of the region, closed border crossings from Türkiye and adverse weather conditions.
• In addition, hospitals in the region were not able to cope with the large numbers of casualties as they already had a shortage of medical supplies due to ongoing conflict in the area.