Syrians have to demolish falling homes for safety following earthquake..reports Asian Lite News
One of the saddest scenes one could ever see is the demolishing of his own home before his own eyes, especially after a devastating earthquake that deprived local residents of almost everything.
At the Nazlet Maysalound neighborhood in Aleppo and the nearby areas, the government safety committees have examined the seriously damaged buildings following the earthquake that rocked the country on Monday, and have decided to demolish eight buildings already. On Saturday Xinhua team visited the site and witnessed the demolition of a cracked building.
Workers were knocking out some walls in the six-story building and opening holes in some corners to secure a smooth demolishing of the building.
A big bulldozer started knocking down some of the walls while workers started wrapping thick metal cords around some of the pillars to pull them back and make the building fall.
A hundred meters away, a cordon formed by military personnel and firefighters prevented people from inching close to the dangerous building. Residents, standing in pain, watching their memories and entire lifetime going down.
Jamil al-Muhammad, a man in his 20s, said that the second and fifth floors belonged to his family.
“We were sitting in peace when the earthquake hit, and we had to flee. Public Safety came and examined the building and marked the building as uninhabitable. So, it’s being destroyed today,” he lamented.
They survived the 11-year-long war, but the earthquake finally displaced them from their homes, he told Xinhua.
Now, al-Muhammad is staying with his parents and the rest of the family at a relative’s house nearby.
His neighbour, a woman in her 50s, bitterly said that they were already impoverished by the nearly 12-year-long war, and they didn’t know what to do to make a living after the earthquake.
“We have yet to receive any aid or help. We have yet to receive anything. Look at our situation. We got displaced, and we felt so cold. So, what is next?” she said.
Most of these people said they wanted financial compensation to buy new homes, which is not easy for Syria as the country is going through a harsh economic situation amid economic sanctions imposed by the United States.
Thaer Rahhal, an engineer with the safety team, told Xinhua that there would be more buildings to be demolished due to the damage the earthquake had caused.
The United Nations seeks more aid to help the victims of Türkiye-Syria quakes. The UN said the tragedy is the “worst” disaster of region in century..reports Asian Lite News
The devastating earthquakes that shook southern Türkiye and northern Syria was the “worst event” to hit the region in a century, a senior official from the United Nations said.
“What happened here on Monday, the epicenter of the earthquake, was the worst event in 100 years in this region,” Martin Griffiths, UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, told reporters in the Turkish province of Kahramanmaras.
More than 100 countries have sent emergency response teams to Türkiye, but “we’re going to need more than that,” Griffiths said.
The UN would launch the appeal to raise money for agencies to come and help the people who’ve been affected, he added.
“We have a clear plan tomorrow (or) the day after to give an appeal for a three-month operation to help the people of Türkiye with humanitarian assistance, and we will do some similar one for the people of Syria,” he said.
As they are coming to the end of the rescue phase, the UN official expressed concern for the second phase of the disaster. “The second phase of a natural disaster of this size is often a medical one, where we have huge worries here and in Syria, of the health problems which have been going on treated,” he noted.
Türkiye’s response to the disaster was “extraordinary,” Griffiths added.
The death toll from Monday’s devastating earthquakes climbed to 22,327 in Türkiye, while another 80,278 injuries were reported in the country, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced on Saturday night.
Search and rescue efforts in ten quake-hit 10 provinces of Türkiye have now begun to turn to debris removal on the sixth day of the disaster. Rescue teams from across Türkiye and around the world were still trying to find survivors in the rubble of toppled buildings and pulled them out against all odds. However, while the number of casualties is soaring, the number of injured pulled out of the rubble was so few on Saturday.
In a statement, the Turkish Medical Association warned about infectious diseases that may occur after the earthquake. Damage to infrastructure such as electricity, water, and sewerage increases the risk of water and food-borne diseases, the statement said.
Risks increase for acute respiratory infections such as influenza, and coronavirus, along with the possibility of contact-transmitted diseases such as scabies, lice, fungi, and diarrheal diseases, it added.
Chinese rescuers have successfully saved at least four survivors so far. An 82-member China Search and Rescue Team arrived in Türkiye on Wednesday to join earthquake relief efforts in the country. Members of the Blue Sky Rescue Team and other Chinese civil relief squads were also in Türkiye to join the international rescue work.
At least 160,000 people, including foreign teams, were on the field for search and rescue efforts, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday. All the state dormitories of universities will be reserved for earthquake victims, and university students will have distance learning until the summer, he noted.
Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu slammed Germany and Austria because their teams have suspended their efforts due to security threats, and criticized them for “slandering” Türkiye.
“Austria’s search and rescue team left the job with the claim of battering … From the first day (of the quake), 416 incidents took place. In the six days before the earthquake, 586 events occurred,” in the region, the Turkish minister explained.
“230 people have been detained so far, there are more than 20 arrests. Our friends take the security of the logistics warehouses, the security of the debris fields, the security of the tent sites,” he said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) brought 35 tons of relief aid to the quake-hit Aleppo city in northern Syria on Saturday as WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reached the city and visited some hospitalized people, shelters where displaced people are staying, and damaged areas.
In a statement, the Turkish Medical Association warned about infectious diseases that may occur after the earthquake. Damage to infrastructure such as electricity, water, and sewerage increases the risk of water- and food-borne diseases, the statement said.
Addressing the criticism that the quake response was not swift enough, Erdogan said it was impossible to get prepared for a calamity like the earthquakes that struck the country on Monday.
Speaking to reporters during his Syria tour, Ghebreyesus said that easing the U.S. sanctions on Syria within the next 180 days would give a window to bring more emergency supplies and support.
On Thursday, the U.S. Treasury Department issued a so-called six-month sanctions exemption for Syria-bound humanitarian aid, saying the U.S. sanctions in Syria “will not stand in the way” of life-saving efforts.
A border gate between Türkiye and Armenia has been opened for the first time in decades for the passage of humanitarian assistance for earthquake victims, the state-run Anadolu News Agency reported Saturday.
The Alican Border Gate was last used in the 1988 earthquake in Armenia when the Turkish Red Crescent crossed the border gate to dispatch aid to disaster areas.
The Armenian aid delegation carrying 100 tonnes of food, medicine, and drinking water passed through the gate in the morning toward the southeastern province of Adiyaman, according to a tweet on Saturday by Serdar Kilic, Türkiye’s special representative for normalization talks with Armenia.
Türkiye severed diplomatic relations and closed the border with Armenia in 1993 in support of Azerbaijan which was fighting a war with Armenia over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The two neighbuors launched talks on normalizing their ties in 2022.
More victims
Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay announced that the country’s death toll has climbed to 24,617, bringing the total fatalities with neighbouring Syria to over 28,000, with tens of thousands injured.
Search and rescue efforts in 10 quake-hit provinces of Türkiye have now begun to turn to debris removal on the sixth day of the disaster. Rescue teams from across Türkiye and around the world were still trying to find survivors in the rubble of toppled buildings and pulled them out against all odds. However, with casualties soaring, few were pulled out of the rubble on Saturday.
People check damaged buildings after the earthquakes in Malatya, Turkey, on Feb. 6, 2023. At least 284 people were killed and 2,323 others injured after two strong earthquakes jolted Türkiye early Monday and damaged more than 1,700 buildings, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)
Chinese rescuers have successfully rescued at least four survivors so far. An 82-member Chinese rescue team arrived in Türkiye on Wednesday to join earthquake relief efforts in the country. Members of the Blue Sky Rescue Team and other Chinese civil relief squads were also in Türkiye to join the international rescue work. At least 160,000 people, including foreign teams, were on the field for search and rescue efforts, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
An Armenian delegation with five trucks of aid has entered Türkiye through the Alican Border Gate in the eastern province of Igdir, which opened for the first time in 30 years, the state-run Anadolu News Agency of Türkiye reported Saturday.
International search and rescue teams, including an 82-member Chinese rescue team that arrived in Turkey on Wednesday…reports Asian Lite News
The death toll from the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria four days ago has surpassed 21,000, according to latest data released by authorities and rescuers.
The death toll from the earthquakes climbed to 17,674 in Turkey, with 72,879 injuries, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said on Thursday.
In Syria, 1,678 people were killed in government-held areas, and the death toll in the opposition-held region stood at 2,190, according to media reports.
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Turkey’s southern province of Kahramanmaras at 4:17 a.m. local time, followed by a magnitude 6.4 quake a few minutes later in the country’s southern province of Gaziantep and a magnitude 7.6 earthquake at 1:24 p.m. local time in Kahramanmaras province, Xinhua news agency reported.
International search and rescue teams, including an 82-member Chinese rescue team that arrived in Turkey on Wednesday, rushed to the quake-impacted zone to assist in rescue efforts.
The latest death toll from the quake in Turkey now stands at 5,894, while the figure over the border in Syria is 1,932…reports Asian Lite News
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged the UK’s “steadfast support” to Turkey in a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
A Downing Street spokeswoman on Tuesday said Sunak had also expressed his “deep condolences for the tragic loss of life” caused by the earthquake, BBC reported.
The latest death toll from the quake in Turkey now stands at 5,894, while the figure over the border in Syria is 1,932.
“The Prime Minister confirmed that a 77-strong British search and rescue team arrived in Gaziantep today with specialist equipment and dogs, in response to a request from the Turkish government, and will immediately start work assisting with the rescue effort,” the spokeswoman said.
United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged his country's "steadfast support" to Turkey in a phone call with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.#Turkey#Syria#Earthquakepic.twitter.com/vQle91Nm1X
“President Erdogan thanked the Prime Minister for the UK’s solidarity in response to this tragedy and welcomed international search and rescue and medical support for the initial emergency response.”
“The Prime Minister also noted the deeply concerning humanitarian situation over the border in north-west Syria, where Turkey plays an important co-ordinating role, and set out how the UK has increased support to aid organisations and emergency responders.”
This mobile phone photo taken on Feb. 7, 2023 shows a building destroyed in a earthquake in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. (Xinhua/Li Zhenbei)
According to Syria’s state news agency SANA, at least 812 deaths were confirmed in government-controlled parts of the country…reports Asian Lite News
As desperate searches continued to find more survivors under the rubble in both Turkey and Syria, the death toll from the devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck the two nations earlier this week has increased to 7,926, authorities have confirmed.
In an address to the nation early Wednesday, Turkey’s Vice President Fuat Oktay said at least 5,894 people have been confirmed dead so far, while 34,810 others were injured, CNN reported.
A total 16,139 teams were currently continuing with the search and rescue operations, with additional international teams to be deployed in the coming days, he added.
In Syria, the death toll has increased to 2,032.
In its latest update, the Syrian Civil Defence, known as the White Helmets, said the number of fatalities in rebel-held areas in northwest Syria stood at 1,220 and the number of injured people rose to 2,600.
Those figures are “expected to rise significantly due to the presence of hundreds of families under the rubble”, CNN quoted the group as saying.
“Our teams continue search and rescue operations amid difficult circumstances,” it said, describing a tally of more than 400 collapsed buildings, more than 1,300 partially collapsed buildings and thousands of others that were damaged by the early morning quake.
According to Syria’s state news agency SANA, at least 812 deaths were confirmed in government-controlled parts of the country.
Freezing weather conditions are further endangering survivors and complicating rescue efforts, as more than 100 aftershocks have struck the region since the initial tremor on Monday.
More than 60 countries have pledged support and sent humanitarian aid to the affected regions, while there are about 20 international government search and rescue teams on the ground presently.
The devastating 7.8 tremor struck Turkey’s southern province of Kahramanmaras at 4.17 a.m. on Monday morning, which was followed by a 6.4-magnitude temblor a few minutes later in Gaziantep province.
The epicentre of the 7.8-magnitude quake was 23 km east of Nurdagi in Gaziantep, at a depth of 24.1 km, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).
At around 1.30 p.m, a third 7.5-magnitude tremor hit Kahramanmaras, which officials said was “not an aftershock”.
Turkey’s southern province of Hatay and Syria’s northern Aleppo city suffered the biggest loss of lives, while Lebanon, Israel and Cyprus also felt the tremor.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared a three-month state of emergency on Tuesday in 10 of the country’s hard-hit provinces.
People check damaged buildings after the earthquakes in Malatya, Turkey, on Feb. 6, 2023. At least 284 people were killed and 2,323 others injured after two strong earthquakes jolted Türkiye early Monday and damaged more than 1,700 buildings, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)
Cleverly said the impact of the quakes was “on a scale that we have not seen for quite some time”…reports Asian Lite News
The government has sent a team of search-and-rescue specialists to Turkey to help the relief effort following the earthquake which has claimed thousands of lives.
No Britons have been reported dead after the quake that has devastated parts of Turkey and Syria, said Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, but he acknowledged it was too early to say whether that would remain the case as the full picture emerges.
Following the powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake there were a series of aftershocks and thousands of people were killed, and the authorities fear the death toll will rise as the search for survivors continues.
Cleverly said the impact of the quakes was “on a scale that we have not seen for quite some time”.
The UK is sending a team of 76 search-and-rescue specialists, complete with state-of-the-art equipment and four specially trained dogs, to Turkey, with a flight scheduled to leave Birmingham on Monday night.
They “should be on the ground shortly to give the Turkish authorities the help that they need to try to save as many lives as possible”, he said.
“With an earthquake of this magnitude we sadly have already seen many thousands of people die,” Cleverly said.
“We don’t know the full extent of the injuries or fatalities and sadly they are likely to grow over the coming days. At this stage we aren’t aware of any British fatalities but of course it’s far too early for us to say that won’t be the case.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “My thoughts are with the people of Turkiye [Turkey] and Syria this morning, particularly with those first responders working so valiantly to save those trapped by the earthquake.
“The UK stands ready to help in whatever way we can.”
In Syria, the UK has for many years provided support to the White Helmets rescue team, which has worked to save lives during the bloody civil war in the country.
Although the area of Turkey which has suffered the highest degree of damage does not receive a large number of British visitors, the Foreign Office has been in contact with UK humanitarian workers in the affected areas and is ready to provide support to any Britons caught up in the disaster.
Hundreds of buildings have collapsed. Many residents expected to have been asleep at the time of the pre-dawn earthquake.
The quake, which was centred on Turkey’s south-eastern province of Kahramanmaras, and its aftershocks were felt as far away as Cairo and Beirut, and in Greenland and Denmark.
Rescue workers and residents in several cities searched for survivors, working through tangles of metal and giant piles of concrete.
“The British embassy in Ankara is in close contact with the Turkish authorities to understand how we can best support those on the ground,” said Jill Morris, the British ambassador-designate to Turkey.
European states dispatch rescue teams
Search and rescue teams have been dispatched from ten European member states in the wake of two devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, which have left at least 4,500 people dead.
The European Commission said on Monday that teams from Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Romania had been sent to the earthquake-stricken areas.
“Speed is of the essence because so many people are still trapped under the rubble,” said Janez Lenarcic, EU Commissioner for Crisis Management. “The rescue teams will continue to work for as long as necessary.”
Other European countries have offered help with logistical information, seismic expertise, and equipment, as well as to house people displaced by the disaster.
Leaders across the European Union have expressed their solidarity with the areas hit by the massive quakes.
French President Emmanuel Macron said that France “stands ready to provide emergency aid to the population on the ground”.
In Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she was closely monitoring the situation in Turkey and Syria, and expressed her solidarity with the people affected.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Germany “mourned with the relatives and feared for those buried”.
In Greece, the closest European Union member state to the areas impacted by the quake, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said he was “heartbroken” by the televised scenes from the affected areas.
Both Italy and Greece temporarily closed some coastal areas as a precaution against a potential tsunami caused by the earthquake.
A magnitude-7.7 earthquake struck Turkey’s southern province of Kahramanmaras at 4:17 a.m. local time. It was followed by a magnitude-6.4 quake a few minutes later in the country’s southern province of Gaziantep and a magnitude-7.6 earthquake at 1:24 p.m. local time in the Kahramanmaras Province.
Buildings were levelled, bridges collapsed, and other essential infrastructure was destroyed. Hours after the quake, rescue workers were still finding survivors amid the rubble.
Officials said they expected the death toll to continue to rise in the coming days.
A house is damaged by earthquake in Gejiu, southwest China's Yunnan Province, May 4, 2016. A 4.6-magnitude earthquake occurred in Gejiu, at 15:51 p.m. Wednesday (Beijing Time), according to China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC). Another earthquake measuring 4.7 was reported by the CENC at roughly the same site at 17:23 p.m..(Xinhua/IANS) (zkr)
Rescuers were working into the night to try to save others thought to still be trapped under collapsed buildings…reports Asian Lite News
At least 162 people were killed and hundreds more injured as a 5.6 intensity earthquake shook Indonesia’s main island of Java on Monday, reports said.
The quake struck Cianjur town in west Java, at a depth of 10 km, according to US Geological Survey data.
The area where the quake struck is densely-populated and prone to landslides, with the makeshift houses reduced to rubble in many areas, the BBC reported.
Rescuers were working into the night to try to save others thought to still be trapped under collapsed buildings.
Regional Governor Ridwan Kamil said 162 people were killed, over 700 injured, and more than 13,000 people displaced by the disaster, the BBC reported.
He apprehended that the numbers of injuries and fatalities were likely to increase because there were “a lot of people” still trapped at the scene.
Earthquakes are common in Indonesia, which sits on the “ring of fire” area of tectonic activity in the Pacific, with a 2018 quake in Sulawesi leaving over 2,000 dead.
EAM expresses solidarity with Indonesia
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday expressed solidarity with Indonesia over the loss of lives in an earthquake and wished the injured a speedy recovery.
He said that India stands in solidarity with Indonesia and its thoughts are with the bereaved families. “Saddened to hear news about the loss of life and property in Java, Indonesia from the earthquake. My thoughts are with the bereaved families. Wish the injured a speedy recovery. India stands in solidarity with Indonesia at this difficult time,” Jaishankar tweeted.
At least 46 people died in an earthquake that hit Indonesia’s main island Java on Monday, Channel News Asia reported citing an Indonesian government official.
Saddened to hear news about the loss of life and property in Java, Indonesia from the earthquake.
My thoughts are with the bereaved families. Wish the injured a speedy recovery. India stands in solidarity with Indonesia at this difficult time. @Menlu_RI
On Monday morning, a shallow 5.4 magnitude earthquake hit Indonesia’s western province of West Java, stated the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
The earthquake’s epicentre was on land in Cianjur, about 75km southeast of Jakarta, and at a depth of 10km. According to CNA citing several reports, about 700 people were injured in the West Java town.
“The latest data showed that 46 people were killed. Victims kept coming from many areas. Around 700 people were injured,” Herman Suherman, the head of the administration in Cianjur, told broadcaster Kompas TV.
He also earlier told another local broadcaster, Metro TV, that many of the injured “had fractures from being trapped by the ruins of buildings”.
Java is a volcano-dotted island that lies between Sumatra and Bali. It is situated at the geographic and economic centre of Indonesia. (ANI)
At least five were killed and 84 wounded in three earthquakes measuring above magnitude 6 that shook Iran’s southern province of Hormozgan, semi-official Fars news agency quoted an emergency official as saying…reports Asian Lite News
Among the injured were 29 hospitalised, said Mojtaba Khaledi, a spokesman for the country’s emergency services, on Saturday.
Khaledi said earlier that ambulances and helicopters have been sent to the quake-hit areas, adding in some places power outages occurred, Xinhua news agency reported.
The first 6.1-magnitude quake occurred at a depth of 10 km at 2:02 a.m. on Friday, followed by two strong quakes of up to 6.3 magnitudes a few hours later. Many aftershocks with a magnitude of above four have also been registered.
The earthquakes have damaged some houses in rural areas, destroyed a number of bridges and overpasses, and caused landslides on roads.
Mokhtar Salahshour, CEO of Hormozgan Province’s Red Crescent Society, said the rescue work has ended and people have been given refuge in emergency shelters, adding tents and aid items have been distributed.
The government has announced that it will pay 100,000 Afs for the families of victims and 50,000 to those injured….reports Asian Lite News
The Taliban-led government in Afghanistan has announced that the death toll in the devastating 6.1-magnitude quake that hit Paktika province earlier this week has increased to 1,100, while the number of injured persons has also climbed to 1,600.
In a statement on Thursday, the Ministry of State for Disaster Management said that more than 1,000 of the injured are in critical condition and the number of the wounded is is increasing day by day, as some people are still trapped under the debris, reports TOLO News.
Local officials and residents of Paktika have said more than a thousand houses have been destroyed in the earthquake, deemed to be the deadliest in two decades, that struck the districts of Gayan and Barmal on Wednesday.
The epicentre was 44 km from Khost city and tremors were felt as far away as Pakistan and India.
The residents of the affected areas have also said they have nothing to eat and no shelter.
“People do not have tents, there is no food, people are living outdoors, we need everything,” a resident told TOLO News.
They are also appealing to humanitarian agencies and the Taliban government to provide immediate assistance.
Afghan and international aid agencies are assessing the damage and delivering supplies, but this is a major and developing crisis, one which comes on top of the country’s already dire humanitarian situation, says a BBC report.
The UN, which is also helping support victims, is warning of the risk of a possible cholera outbreak.
The government has announced that it will pay 100,000 Afs for the families of victims and 50,000 to those injured.
Afghanistan is prone to quakes, as it is located in a tectonically active region, over a number of fault lines including the Chaman fault, the Hari Rud fault, the Central Badakhshan fault and the Darvaz fault.
Over the past decade more than 7,000 people have been killed in earthquakes in the country, according to the UN’s Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports.
There are an average of 560 deaths a year from earthquakes.
Most recently, back-to-back earthquakes in the country’s west in January killed more than 20 people and destroyed hundreds of houses.
The casualties were reported from Barmal, Ziruk, Naka and Gayan districts of Paktika province…reports Asian Lite News
The death toll from the earthquake that struck Afghanistan’s two eastern provinces early on Wednesday jumped to 920, Afghan state-run media reported.
Deputy State Minister for Natural Disaster Management in Taliban-led government, Mawlavi Sharfuddin, said in a press conference that 920 people were killed and 610 others injured in the quake, the state-run Bakhtar News Agency said in a tweet.
The casualties were reported from Barmal, Ziruk, Naka and Gayan districts of Paktika province. Helicopters and rescue teams have arrived in the affected areas from neighbouring provinces and Kabul.
The Gayan district was the worst-hit area in Paktika, the news agency reported, adding that the quake has destroyed and damaged scores of houses in the region and also caused land sliding in Paktika.
The number of casualties might rise as dozens were still trapped under the debris.
The quake jolted in mountainous areas and the authorities dispatched seven helicopters with life-saving equipment and medical personnel to the area, while medical and rescue teams were also on the way to the affected areas.
Hours after the quake, acting Prime Minister Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund chaired an emergency cabinet meeting on Wednesday morning, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a tweet by Akhund’s office.
The acting Prime Minister has expressed sorrow over the loss of lives following the quake and expressed condolences to people who lost their relatives. “The meeting has ordered all concerned agencies to rush to the spot immediately. Use all available resources to save the lives of the affected people and provide all necessary assistance.”
The quake, with a magnitude of around 6, jolted 44 km southwest of Khost, according to the US Geological Survey.
