Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks to the press after earthquakes of magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 hit Turkey’s southern provinces on February 07, 2023 in Ankara, Turkey.
Mustafa Kamachi Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday declared a three-month state of emergency in 10 provinces of the country.
Turkey, and neighboring Syria, are reeling from two consecutive earthquakes – the region’s most powerful in nearly a century – that have devastated vast areas of the region, taking lives and buildings with them.
At the time of writing, the death toll from the earthquake is above 5,000, with many still missing and seriously injured. And soon after the seismic disaster left thousands homeless, a brutal winter storm hit, threatening more lives.
The earthquake, which occurred over a span of nine hours and measured 7.8 in Turkey and 7.5 in Syria on the Richter scale, destroyed at least 6,000 buildings, with many people still inside them. Rescue efforts are ongoing – Turkey’s government has deployed some 25,000 search and rescue personnel – and countries around the world have pledged aid, but emergency workers in both countries say they are completely overwhelmed.
Rescuers and civilians search for survivors under the rubble of collapsed buildings in Kahramanmaras, close to the epicenter of the earthquake, a day after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the country’s southeast, February 7, 2023.
Adem Altan | AFP | Getty Images
Syria, already crippled by years of war and terrorism, is least prepared for such a crisis. The affected areas are home to thousands of internally displaced people who are already living in dire conditions such as tents and makeshift shanties, with little health and emergency services infrastructure to rely on.
With the dust of the devastation still settling, regional analysts are zoning in on the long-term effects on Turkey, a country whose 85-million-strong population was already beset by economic problems – and whose military, economy and president Near a major impact far beyond its borders.