Recent years have seen a change in the earth’s climate, increasing the frequency of natural disasters. Turkey recently experienced a powerful earthquake, which has not happened in more than 200 years, in addition to the recent extreme cold spell that caused extremely low temperatures of minus 79 degrees in the United States. This time, a powerful earthquake struck in the early hours of February 7 (Turkish time), close to the Syrian border in southeast Turkey. There were two major aftershocks that followed, and more than 5,000 people died as a result.
The first earthquake, which had its center close to the town of Gaziantep, was followed by a number of aftershocks, one of which was very strong, greatly raising the death toll. Rescue operations had to find survivors in the chilly weather because Turkey was in the midst of winter at the time. International expert teams, sniffer dog teams, and other rescue teams were sent to assist.
Millions of refugees are housed in camps along the Syrian-Turkish border, the majority of whom are in the war-torn areas of northern Syria. Multiple fatalities have reportedly also occurred in regions under the control of Syrian rebels. In addition, the earthquake caused over a thousand buildings in both locations to fall. Mountains of rubble were visible on the ground due to the fall of numerous huge buildings, and many high-rise buildings were crushed. Gaziantep is a Turkish monument that dates back more than 2,000 years. The earthquake also completely demolished the Gaziantep Castle.
The first major earthquake, which had a magnitude of 7.8, was followed by a fault line crack that extended for about 100 kilometers, which led to the collapse of buildings that were above ground, which is why this earthquake was so fatal. A few hours later, a second 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck the neighborhood, further devastating the already severely damaged area. One of the variables that contributed to the rise in the death toll was this earthquake, together with the fact that it happened in the early morning hours when most people are still asleep. Additionally, the structures in Syria and Turkey were not sturdy enough to withstand this large earthquake, particularly in Syria where there is a severe lack of infrastructure for disaster protection, making the need to preserve lives even more essential.
Two hundred years ago, on August 13, 1822, a dramatic plate movement triggered an earthquake of magnitude 7.4, which was not as powerful as this one, which had a magnitude of 7.8. Despite this, the earthquake that occurred more than 200 years ago nevertheless left many areas of Aleppo alone devastated and resulted in a further 7,000 fatalities. To make matters even more unbelievable, the aftershocks from this earthquake lasted for almost a year. Additionally, according to seismologists, the deadly earthquake that occurred back then was replicated in this earthquake.
