The 2023 Turkey-Syria Earthquake

On February 6, 2023, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck near the border of Turkey and Syria (United Nations 2023). The first earthquake was centered in the Pazarcik district of Kahramanmaras province on the East Anatolian fault and was followed by over 100 aftershocks including a 7.6 magnitude earthquake (Al Jazeera 2023 and USGS 2023). It was a strike-slip earthquake like the ones found along the San Andreas fault in California (Hernandez & Brumfiel 2023). Believed to be the largest earthquake in this region in eighty years, the event killed over 41,000 people in Turkey and approximately 4,800 people in Syria (Al Jazeera 2023 and Hernandez & Brumfiel 2023). Thousands of buildings collapsed leaving 210 million tons of ruble (United Nations 2023). About 1.5 million people were left homeless after the quakes (United Nations 2023).

This map shows the tectonic plates in the region and their direction. Along the East Anatolian Fault, one can see the transform fault where the earthquake occurred. The two stars mark the location of the two biggest quakes (USGS 2023). 

This map shows the below average temper-
atures in the region. From this it is apparent
that the weather put intense pressure on the
the displaced people as well as well as on the
rescue teams who were slowed by the weather
(Al Jazeera).

Many people whose homes were not destroyed during the earthquake initially refused to live in them out of fear of another earthquake and more buildings collapsing (McCarthy et al. 2023). This became a major issue as people living in tents and vehicles were exposed to freezing temperatures (McCarthy et al. 2023). Winter storms also delayed rescue and aid operations (Al Jazeera 2023). Providing aid in Syria was complicated by the ongoing civil war as parts of the rebel held northwestern portion of the country were heavily affected (McCarthy et al. 2023). This issue was resolved by the United Nations which took responsibility over transporting aid from the government controlled to the rebel controlled regions (McCarthy et al. 2023). 

Discussions and Consequences

There are multiple factors that contributed to the severity of the earthquake. After the disaster, the Turkish government arrested thirty-one contractors who oversaw the construction of a large portion of the collapsed buildings (McCarthy et al. 2023). This act implies that the contractors disregarded earthquake-related building codes while constructing the buildings which put them, at least partially, at fault for the deaths.

This image shows a man looking for survivors among the rubble. It 
shows the extent of the damage among the buildings in Turkey 
where building codes were in place to prevent such disasters
(Hernandez & Brumfiel 2023). 

The political situation in Syria slowed the process of bringing foreign aid into the country. An alliance with Russia, slowed the process of opening the country’s border with Turkey with two border crossings for aid being approved nearly an entire week after the initial earthquake (McCarthy et al. 2023). The civil war in Syria also slowed the distribution of aid in the country (McCarthy et al. 2023). A conclusion to be drawn from this situation is that, in order for aid to be distributed effectively, countries and political sects must agree upon mutually benefitting treaties for these types of situations before the disasters occur. The United Nations could be an adequate agent to carry this task out.

Finally, controlling human response, specifically fear, was a major issue in the aftermath of this earthquake. People were being exposed to freezing temperatures because they were afraid to live in safe buildings due to witnessing the failures of unsafe buildings (McCarthy et al. 2023). To mitigate this problem, Turkey could have educated residents in how to determine which buildings were still safe. This might have enabled a few to overcome their fear. Having temporary structures stored in earthquake prone areas could be another way to help provide housing to people who either lost their homes or refuse to live in their old homes out of fear. This solution though would require a large amount of resources which might make it impractical to utilize.

Below is a link to a video from Sky News on the 2023 earthquake. It includes footage of buildings collapsing and of rescue efforts.

References

Al Jazeera. (2023). Turkey, Syria earthquake current death toll: Live Tracker. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/2/6/turkey-syria-earthquake-death-toll-and-devastation-live-tracker. Last Accessed 17 September 2024

Hernandez & Brumfiel (2023). Here’s what we know about what caused the Turkey earthquake. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2023/02/07/1154913148/turkey-earthquake-fault-lines-syria. Last Accessed 17 September 2024

McCarthy, Guy, Chowdhury, & Hammond. (2023). February 13, 2023 over 36,000 dead from quake in Turkey and Syria. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/turkey-syria-earthquake-updates-2-13-23-intl/index.html. Last Accessed 17 September 2024

Sky News. (2023). Turkey-Syria earthquake: Buildings crumble as deadly earthquakes hit. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jZE4p1SOvg. Last Accessed 17 September 2024

United Nations. (2023). Türkiye-Syria earthquake response. United Nations. https://www.un.org/en/turkiye-syria-earthquake-response. Last Accessed 17 September 2024

USGS. United States Geological Survey (2023). New interactive geonarrative explains the 2023 Turkey, earthquake sequence: U.S. Geological Survey. New Interactive Geonarrative Explains the 2023 Turkey, Earthquake Sequence | U.S. Geological Survey. https://www.usgs.gov/programs/earthquake-hazards/news/new-interactive-geonarrative-explains-2023-turkey-earthquake. Last Accessed 17 September 2024