When a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Turkey and northwestern Syria early Monday, it was felt across the region and beyond. The United States Geological Survey estimated that the quake was the most powerful to hit Turkey in decades.
It has wreaked havoc on a region already struggling with conflict and a severe winter storm, leaving survivors without shelter, food, or water. International aid agencies are rushing to help.
Location
The earthquake’s epicenter was near Gaziantep, a large city in Turkey that is home to thousands of Syrian refugees. It was also in an area of Turkey that has been prone to destructive earthquakes.
Many of the buildings in this part of Turkey were built before 2000 when new building codes were introduced, so they are less resilient than those in Istanbul, where many new buildings use modern earthquake-resistant construction. But that’s not to say all buildings in Turkey are vulnerable.
Some structures were built quickly and with little thought for earthquakes, researchers said. Older buildings in this region are built with concrete frames and weren’t designed to take the force of a major quake.
This was especially true in northern Syria, where rapid construction — coupled with years of bombing and airstrikes during the civil war — made infrastructure vulnerable.
But the main reason that this area is so susceptible to a big quake is that it lies along an active fault that has been responsible for devastating earthquakes in the past. It’s called the East Anatolian fault zone, and it is similar in structure to the San Andreas, the main earthquake fault that runs through Southern California.
That fault is a strike-slip fault, meaning that it runs vertically and the ground moves sideways during an earthquake. It’s much more likely to rupture in a single human life than other kinds of faults.
A large earthquake on a strike-slip fault like this one could cause massive damage to the ground around it, experts say. This is because the ground moves so rapidly.
Usually, big earthquakes hit underwater, but this one occurred on land. As a result, it was more powerful than other types of earthquakes.
In addition to causing widespread property damage, the earthquake triggered fires. These caused millions of dollars in damages, officials say.
The quake also raised safety concerns for millions of people in the region. Schools in the affected areas are closed, and gas flow through pipelines has been suspended to prevent explosions.
The quake has also prompted an international response from governments, with rescue teams and aid being offered by scores of countries. But the humanitarian crisis is far from over. The World Health Organization warned Monday that the death toll may increase as rescuers find more bodies in the rubble.
Symptoms
One of the biggest earthquakes in 20 years hit Turkey and Syria on Monday. It was followed by dozens of smaller tremors. The 7.8-magnitude quake killed thousands of people and caused massive damage in areas prone to tremors.
The quake was centered near Gaziantep, the capital of southern Turkey’s Kahramanmaras province, where hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees live. Many of these people had already been displaced by nearly 12 years of conflict in Syria.
After the quake, many of these people were left without shelter, as buildings collapsed and a harsh winter cold forced them outside for warmth. Others gathered in mosques, community centers, and hotels.
Ebru Firat, 23, who lives in Gaziantep, was hoping her cousin was still alive in a building under the rubble. But her hope was short-lived as she watched rescuers struggle with the tangled wreckage of her family’s apartment complex.
“It’s just heartbreaking, it’s so hard to see how many people have died and how many are still in the rubble,” she said. She vowed to pray for her cousin and all those in the area.
In addition to the tens of thousands of dead, millions of people are without water, electricity, and other basic services as the country grapple with the aftermath of the quakes. The Turkish government says it will be a “very long and difficult process to recover” from the disaster.
The quake hit the East Anatolian fault zone, which has a history of causing devastating earthquakes. Previously, there was a 7.4-magnitude quake in 1999 that caused significant damage in eastern Turkey.
A lot of buildings in the region were built before 2000, but a large number of them have since been updated to resist tremors. However, “there are still some older structures in the region that were vulnerable to this kind of event,” Mustafa Erdik, a professor at Bogazici University’s Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute in Istanbul, told Al Jazeera.
It’s important for everyone to be aware of the potential threat of earthquakes and how to respond if they occur. In recent years, Turkey has increased its focus on preparing for a natural disaster. In 2000, the country began to revise its building codes and introduced a compulsory earthquake insurance system.
Causes
A devastating earthquake ripped through the border regions of Turkey and Syria on Monday, killing thousands of people and toppling buildings across the two nations. The quakes are the most powerful in nearly a century and have triggered huge search and rescue efforts.
The area is prone to tremors, as it sits at the intersection of three tectonic plates that make up the Earth’s crust. The Arabian plate is moving northwards into Europe, causing the Anatolian plate (which Turkey is on) to be pushed out westwards. This tectonic shift has been behind many of the worst earthquakes in that region, including a devastating one that flattened Aleppo in 1138.
During the past 100 years, two major faults — the East Anatolian and North Anatolian — have ruptured in Turkey, according to the US Geological Survey. Those faults are similar to the San Andreas, in that they rupture on a strike-slip fault — meaning they run vertically and sideways at the same time.
There are also many smaller faults around the region that can be triggered by the bigger earthquakes, according to Seyhun Puskulcu, director of the Turkish Earthquake Foundation in Istanbul. These small quakes are less frequent, but they do occur.
These smaller quakes can cause some serious damage to infrastructure and are particularly common in areas where people live in close proximity. These quakes are a significant threat because they can trigger widespread flooding.
The most recent 7.8-magnitude quake hit near the city of Gaziantep in eastern Turkey, at a depth of 17.9 kilometers. The quake was followed by a later magnitude-7.5 tremor around 4 km southeast of Ekinozu in the Kahramanmaras province.
Another powerful quake, estimated to have been magnitude 7.3, struck near the Turkish town of Hatay. It was followed by a series of minor tremors that affected parts of northeastern Turkey and northwest Syria.
This was the strongest tremor to hit Turkey in nearly a century and was one of the most powerful to hit any part of the world since an 8.1-magnitude earthquake struck the South Sandwich Islands off the coast of southern Africa in 2021.
Recovery
Turkey has been experiencing a series of earthquakes over the last few years, but this week’s event was one of the most devastating to hit the country. The 7.8-magnitude quake that struck the southeast of Turkey at 4:17 am Monday was the strongest in the region in more than a century.
The quake was felt across the country, with dozens of aftershocks reported. The tremors triggered a massive search and rescue operation. The Turkish interior minister told local broadcasters that the first priority was to bring people out of ruined buildings and bring them to hospitals.
It is estimated that thousands of people are dead in the region. The death toll could increase as search and rescue teams look for survivors.
Humanitarian aid organizations say that the quake is the worst in the area in decades. It has destroyed buildings, including hospitals and schools, and left people without food and water.
A large number of Syrian refugees have moved into Turkiye since the conflict began, and many of those living in the region are extremely vulnerable to this earthquake. The Turkish city of Gaziantep, where the initial quake hit, is home to half a million refugees who are at risk.
The earthquake is expected to leave communities with significant damage to their infrastructure, especially in areas with poor infrastructure or no earthquake infrastructure. This means that immediate and long-term assistance will be required to help affected families recover, especially in the area of housing.
Aftershocks are likely to continue throughout the week, with more powerful tremors possible in the future. As the crisis unfolds, communities will need assistance with emergency shelter, health care and social services, among other needs.
In addition, the ongoing refugee crisis and economic concerns can also lead to an increased need for humanitarian aid. The European Union and the United States are among those pledging help to Turkey.
The United Nations has called for immediate relief efforts. The international community will need to ensure that aid can reach the most vulnerable, while also providing a safe and secure environment for affected people. As in other disasters, the priority should be on addressing immediate humanitarian needs, while working to prevent further suffering and loss of life.