Recent Seismic Event: Turkey-Syria Earthquake

Question 1

Location/ magnitude/ depth of focus/ time of day

Answer 1

• 4:17am
• Feb 26th 2023
• Epicentre 37km north west of the town of Gaziantep in Turkey
• Magnitude of 7.8
• Earthquake was 11 miles deep

Question 2

Causes/ contributing factors

Answer 2

• Tectonic activity along the East Anatolian Fault, a major fault line that runs across south-eastern Turkey.
• Earthquakes occurred due to sudden stress release built up along this fault line over time.
• The movement caused a rupture in the earth’s crust, releasing massive energy and resulting in severe ground shaking
• Complacency -> no major earthquake in region in 100 yrs
• Shallow focus
• High population density
• Vulnerability -> region houses many of refugees from Syrian conflict

Question 3

Economic impacts

Answer 3

• Estimated cost was $84.1 bn overall
• Turkey, direct physical damages alone was $32.4 bn
• Estimated total damages in Syria was $5.2 bn
• Infrastructure badly hit with roads and bridges severely damaged which hampered rescue efforts.

Question 4

Social impacts

Answer 4

• Thousands of buildings, incl homes, schools and hospitals collapsed -> 6650 in Turkey
• Over 50,000 killed
• In Turkey, over 107,000 injured, no exact number in Syria due to ongoing conflicts
• Infrastructure damage slowed aid
• 1.5 million in Turkey and 5.3 million in Syria left homeless
• Fires broke out
• Outbreak of disease

Question 5

Environmental impacts

Answer 5

• Region experienced powerful aftershocks, 9 hrs later an aftershock with 7.5 magnitude
• In Syria, Afrin Dam was cracked and then burst and the water flooded a nearby village

Question 6

Political impacts

Answer 6

• Earthquakes have become a major political issue in Turkey, with President Erdogan facing severe criticism for their initial response to the catastrophe + 2018 amnesty programme forgave millions of building faults

Question 7

Short term responses

Answer 7

• Rescue operations: local people began to search rubble
  
  • Rescue teams from Turkey and international organisations sent out
  • Sniffer dogs
• Turkish private sector contributed over $11 million in donations
• Emergency aid including food, water, medical supplies and blankets distributed
  
  • Red Cross, UNICEF set up emergency shelters

Question 8

Long term responses

Answer 8

• The World Bank approved $1 bn in financing to support Turkey’s recovery efforts
• Ongoing efforts to rebuild homes, schools, hospitals
• Grants and loans for businesses
• With funding from Sweden, the UNDP provided $4.5 million in grants to small businesses across 11 worst affected provinces
• Mental health support services established

Question 9

Evaluation:

Answer 9

• It was difficult to respond due to aid not being able to get there and ongoing conflict.
• Also, people were ignorant and weren’t prepared for the earthquake as they weren’t expecting it.
• This increased the devastation caused.