21, February, 2023
Nearly two weeks after a devastating earthquake hit Turkey and Syria, more than 46,000 people have died and more than 80,000 buildings have either been badly damaged or collapsed.
The United Nations is appealing for nearly $1.4 billion to help survivors — $1 billion to help more than 5 million people in Turkey and $397 million for northwestern Syria.
With so many survivors turned into refugees, the primary goal is to urgently cover such needs as shelter, food, and schooling.
"We have to deal with the aftermath of this crisis, which is going to be months and months of work. To help those who've been injured, people with amputations, people with psychological stress, ruined hospitals, collapsed schools," says Mike Ryan, director of the World Health Organization's emergencies programme. "This is the hard part."
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The number of people being found alive under the rubble has fallen to only a handful in recent days and the head of Turkey’s disaster agency said rescue operations would be largely completed by tonight.
Health experts have voiced concerns about the possible spread of infection in the areas where tens of thousands of buildings collapsed.
The disaster has also put pressure on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the sluggish response to the disaster and why his administration allowed such shoddy buildings to be erected.
The problems facing survivors are especially acute in war-ravaged Syria, where there are also scenes of desolation and destruction.
According to the World Health Organization, about 26 million people have been impacted by the disaster.