February 6, 2023 News

Caritas for Turkey and Syria: We have launched appeal to help people affected by catastrophic earthquake

A catastrophic earthquake of 7.8 magnitude struck south-eastern Turkey and Syria in the early hours of Monday 6th February. Caritas Czech Republic immediately launched an appeal to help the affected people. Thousands of people have already lost their lives and thousands are injured. Just before noon, another 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck south-eastern Turkey. People on the ground need immediate humanitarian aid. Caritas partners are already helping on the ground.

Hundreds of thousands of people in need of humanitarian aid

The epicentre of the earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale was near the city of Gaziantep in south-eastern Turkey, close to the Syrian border. The tremors were felt as far away as Lebanon and Cyprus, leaving more than 2 300 dead. Unfortunately, these figures are not final. Rescue workers are still uncovering the rubble of houses that collapsed as a result of the earthquake. Many people are still trapped underneath. According to the information available from Turkey, 3000 buildings have collapsed. 

Caritas Czech Republic is ready to help immediately. We have released 300,000 CZK from our emergency fund and have launched a Caritas for Turkey and Syria earthquake appeal. The account number CZ79 0800 0000 0000 5566 0022, payment reference number 118. Caritas Czech Republic long term partners are already helping directly on the ground. They are gathering displaced people in safe and open spaces and distributing hot meals and clothes. There is also a collection of material organised in unaffected parts of the country to be sent to the hit region.

Search and rescue teams were immediately dispatched to the earthquake affected areas. Turkey has also officially requested international assistance. Firefighters from the Czech Republic's Fire and Rescue Service, among others, are heading to the area.

"Social networks are filled with messages from people who are either trapped under the rubble themselves or have no news of their loved ones," says directly from Turkey Irena Menšíková from Caritas Czech Republic.

Less than 12 hours after the first earthquake had stuck, another wave of earthquakes hit southern Turkey, this time with a magnitude of 7.6. The epicentre was in the town of Kahramanmaraş. The situation is further complicated by freezing weather, heavy rain and snow. People are on the streets in freezing temperatures, hiding in their cars if they have any. There is no electricity or water in most of the standing buildings. The affected people need immediate humanitarian aid.

Roads to the quake-hit areas are closed. Authorities are appealing to citizens not to travel to the sites.

Turkey's most tragic earthquake since 1939

This morning's earthquake hit an area around the city of Gaziantep, about 90 kilometres from the Syrian border. Gaziantep has a population of 2 million and is also home to up to half a million Syrian refugees. Gaziantep is also the base of one of the UN refugee agency's largest operations. In Syria, the earthquake has particularly affected opposition-held areas where millions of displaced Syrians live.

Turkey lies on the boundary of several tectonic plates, with several faults running through it, and earthquakes are therefore frequent. According to the Turkish President, this is the worst disaster in Turkey since the 1939 earthquake. At that time, tremors in the north-east of the country killed 30 000 people. The 1939 earthquake was of the same magnitude - 7.8 on the Richter scale – as the Monday one. One of the biggest disasters in the country's history was the 1999 earthquake in the city of Izmit, near Istanbul, which killed 18,000 people.

The earthquake also meant huge material damage. In Turkey, these will range from one to ten billion dollars (roughly CZK 22 billion to CZK 220 billion).