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Mustafa Ozdimir helps his family as they collect items from their collapsed shop in the city of Antakya on February 19, 2023. Credit: SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP via Getty Images
10 posts
3 mins ago
Turkey ends earthquake search and rescue operations except in two provinces
By Isil Sariyuce
Credit: BULENT KILIC/AFP via Getty Images
Turkey has ended search and rescue operations, except in the provinces of KahramanmaraĹź and Hatay, nearly two weeks after the deadly earthquake this month, the country's disaster management authority reported on Sunday, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.
Search and rescue efforts are continuing at 40 buildings in the two provinces, state media reported, citing Authority for Disaster and Emergency Management (AFAD) head Yunus Sezer.
19 hours ago
Search and rescue operations continue in 118 buildings in Turkey
By Ipek Yezdani
An aerial view of displaced people in an aid camp in Iskenderun, Turkey (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
Search and rescue operations are continuing in 118 collapsed buildings in Turkey, including 98 buildings in Hatay, 19 buildings in Kahramanmaras and one building in Adıyaman, according to a statement from the country's Communications Directorate released on Saturday.
“13,000 search and rescue personnel are currently operating while another 74,000 support personnel are present in Hatay.
About 140,000 health professionals are operating in the field.
6,108 citizens continue to receive treatment in hospitals in the region and 13,612 have been discharged.
414,286 citizens have received psychosocial support from 2,710 staff members in the earthquake-affected provinces, while 3,010 staff members provided psychosocial support to 143,565 citizens outside the disaster zone," the statement said.
20 hours ago
48,457 students are transferred to schools in Turkish cities not affected by the earthquake
By Ipek Yezdani
A man with his children walk past destroyed buildings in Hatay, Turkey, on February 16, 2023 (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
At least 48,457 students from quake-hit regions have been transferred to schools in 71 Turkish cities in unaffected provinces, according to Turkish Education Minister Mahmut Ozer.
Speaking at a press conference in Malatya, eastern Turkey, on Saturday, Ozer said that schools in unaffected areas - which have been closed shortly after the February 6 earthquake - will reopen on Monday.
Ozer said that the decision on the date of reopening of schools in the cities affected by the earthquake will be made public on Tuesday.
Ozer added that students who are transferred from the earthquake zone to schools in the other 71 cities will be able to stay in spaces provided by the Ministry of Education for free.
“Right now, we have a [total] capacity of 521,735 student spaces in 71 cities.
279,998 of this capacity is full, but we have 241,737 places left for students, ”he added.
A few days after the catastrophic earthquake on February 6, the Turkish authorities enacted a nationwide closure of schools and universities until February 20.
21 hours ago
A father and daughter are reunited, while a teenager searches for his mother in Turkey
By Sara Sidner, Jo Shelley, Bilge Han Deniz
First screams… then more piercing screams… and then “father, father” is heard, over and over again.
A 4-year-old girl, Gada Ayyan, and her father, Ahmet Ayyan, have been reunited after being buried under a pile of rubble that was once their home in southern Turkey.
They were trapped together when their home collapsed in the February 6 earthquake, now known to have killed more than 45,000 people.
They both then faced a separate agonizing days as Gada was rescued and taken to the hospital.
“When it started to shake, I grabbed my daughter and my whole family started running out,” Ahmet said.
"The building collapsed on top of all of us."
His wife and son did not make it out alive.
Ahmet heard the screams of his son being trapped.
He had his daughter by his side.
She was lying on his leg and they were both trapped unable to move.
Read the full post here.
21 hours ago
Turkey's foreign minister says construction of 30,000 apartments will start in March
By Ipek Yezdani
Illustrative photo of Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkey's foreign minister (LEAH MILLIS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said construction of 30,000 apartments in the earthquake zone will start in March.
He reported it during a press conference in Malatya this Saturday.
The foundations for the buildings will be laid in June, Cavusoglu added.
“As a first step, we will provide them with container houses, but the expectation of all citizens is to rebuild their apartments.
They have also manifested this to our president and God willing, we will complete that in a year,” he said.
Çavuşoğlu also mentioned that so far 102 countries have offered to help and Turkey has received help from 89 countries.
Cavusoglu said about 11,500 rescue team members came to the quake zone from abroad.
At least 7,146 people from 37 countries have returned to their home countries and 4,344 of them are still in Turkey, he added.
“We are always grateful to those who came from abroad to help.
They have also built hospitals, like the field hospital that Iran built and the field hospital that France built,” he added.
22 hours ago
Turkish authorities arrested 120 people linked to the construction of buildings destroyed by the earthquake
By Yusuf Gezer, Xiaofei Xu
A Hatay city building destroyed by the devastating earthquake in Turkey.
(Credit: Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
Turkish authorities have arrested 120 of the 400 suspects who are under investigation in connection with the construction and zoning of buildings that were destroyed during the quake, as Ankara's investigative efforts continue, according to the country's state-run Anadolu news agency. Saturday.
"The responsibilities of 400 suspects were determined in the investigations initiated ex officio by the General Prosecutors' Offices on the buildings destroyed in the earthquakes or by the changes that were detected against the zoning," Anadolu reported.
The death toll in Turkey surpassed 40,000 on Saturday, according to authorities, making it one of the deadliest earthquakes the world has seen this century.
23 hours ago
The death toll from the earthquake in Turkey and Syria exceeds 46,000
By Yusuf Gezer, Ipek Yezdani, Eyad Kourdi
Machinery removes rubble from destroyed buildings in Hatay, Turkey (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
The death toll in Turkey and Syria after the catastrophic earthquake on February 6 rose to at least 46,483 on Saturday.
The death toll in Turkey has risen to at least 40,642, according to the latest figures from Turkey's government disaster management agency, AFAD.
The death toll in Syria stands at at least 5,841.
The death toll in Syria includes 4,427 reported victims in rebel-held parts of northern and western Syria, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The Syrian death toll also includes 1,414 deaths in parts controlled by the Syrian government, according to the Syrian state news agency SANA.
23 hours ago
The death toll in Turkey from the earthquake rises to more than 40,000
By Yusuf Gezer, Ipek Yezdani
A man searches through the rubble of a collapsed building for his belongings in Hatay, Turkey (Burak Kara/Getty Images)
The death toll in Turkey from the February 6 earthquake rose to at least 40,642 on Saturday, according to the latest figures from Turkey's government disaster management agency, AFAD.
The head of the Authority for Disaster and Emergency Management (AFAD), Yunus Sezer, also said that so far 430,000 people have been evacuated from the earthquake region and more than 313,000 people have been placed in public facilities, houses of guests and hotels.
“We have largely come to the end of search and rescue efforts in 10 provinces.
Our focus is now on Hatay and KahramanmaraĹź, as you all know," Sezer said during a press conference in Ankara on Saturday.
"Search and rescue work was carried out in approximately 200 buildings in Hatay yesterday, and today search and rescue work was carried out in 98 buildings," Sezer added.
"Starting tomorrow, we will have largely reached the end here. Similarly, we have 19 buildings left in KahramanmaraĹź. We hope it will be the end."
"In Adiyaman, work continues on one building, Çınar Sitesi. Search and rescue efforts will largely end as of tomorrow night, maybe some buildings will continue, but they will largely be finished," he said.
23 hours ago
Family found under rubble in Turkey 296 hours after devastating earthquake: a child died shortly after
By Yusuf Gezer
The family man rescued 296 hours later in Hatay (Reuters/Kyrgyz Emergency Ministry)
Three people, including a child, were rescued from rubble in Turkey's Hatay province on Saturday, 296 hours after the devastating earthquake struck the country and Syria, according to the country's state-run Anadolu news agency.
The devastating earthquake has killed at least 45,513 people, with at least 39,672 dead in Turkey, according to the latest figure provided by Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu.
The 12-year-old boy who was rescued from the rubble died, according to Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency.
Read the full post here.
23 hours ago
Ghanaian footballer Christian Atsu was found dead under the rubble of the earthquake in Turkey
By Kareem El Damanhoury, Yusuf Gezer
Christian Atsu, who played for many English clubs including Newcastle and Chelsea, was confirmed dead on Saturday.
(Credit: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
The body of Ghanaian soccer star Christian Atsu was found under rubble on Saturday, according to his agent, nearly two weeks after the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria.
"It is with the greatest regret that I have to announce to all supporters that Christian Atsu's body was unfortunately recovered this morning," Atsu's agent Nana Sechere tweeted.
"My condolences to his family and loved ones."
The Hatayspor player's body was recovered from under the rubble of a destroyed building in Antakya, Turkey's state-run news channel TRT Haber reported on Saturday.
Read the full post here.
Earthquake in SyriaEarthquake in Turkey
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