Northwest Turkey hit by a magnitude 5.4 earthquake

[Anthea]

36 minutes ago 3.30 GMT

4.6 magnitude, 19 km depth
Pazarcık, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey

25 minutes ago 5.0 magnitude, 10 km depth
Göksun, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey

Could have been felt in Diyabakir

Strong enough to bring down an already damaged building

[Anthea]

Repeated Warning:

BEWARE

Many so-called charities and organizations will be asking for donations to help the earthquake victims

MOST of them are FAKE

I recommend:

Médecins Sans Frontières

Syria-Turkey earthquake: What is MSF doing?

On Monday 6 February, two major earthquakes hit northwest Syria and southeast Turkey.

Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) teams have been responding in northern Syria since the first hours of the disaster.

In Idlib, in northern Syria, we are treating injured patients in MSF-supported hospitals

Our teams have also donated emergency medical kits to other healthcare facilities in the region

We remain in close contact with authorities in northwest Syria and in southern Turkey in order to provide support based on the emerging needs of people affected by the earthquake

MSF teams and their families are reported to be OK and we are in constant contact

The situation is extremely fast-moving. More information on MSF's response to the earthquake will be shared as it becomes available.

How can I help MSF in Syria and Turkey?

Due to the unique way that MSF is funded, most of our donations are "unrestricted" and can be used wherever the need is greatest. The actions our teams are taking in Syria and Turkey are funded by donations just like these.

Please consider giving an unrestricted donation, which will give our medical teams across the world the valuable flexibility to respond as needs arise.

Click here to learn more about how we spend your money
https://msf.org.uk/

[Anthea]

1 hour ago (about 7pm GMT) 5.3 magnitude, 18 km depth
Göksun, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey

2 hours ago (about 6pm GMT) 4.2 magnitude, 20 km depth
Gölbaşı, Adıyaman, Turkey

The Izmit earthquake in 1999 only had 2 mild aftershocks

There have been more than 100 smaller quakes and aftershocks following yesterdays large quakes

Yesterday: 6.0 magnitude earthquake near Göksun, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey

Yesterday: 6.0 magnitude earthquake near Doğanşehir, Malatya, Turkey

Yesterday: 7.5 magnitude earthquake near Celeyke, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey

Yesterday: 6.7 magnitude earthquake near Kahramanmaraş, Turkey

Yesterday: 7.8 magnitude earthquake near Nurdağı, Gaziantep, Turkey

[Anthea]

9,20pm GMT

23 minutes ago 4.9 magnitude, 10 km depth
Nurhak, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey

People MUST be moved away from buildings

Over 100 mini quakes / aftershocks this is NOT normal

I fear there is a possibility of another major

[Anthea]

Aid slowed by sanctions

Even before Monday’s devastating earthquake, getting aid to all parts of war-battered Syria was fraught with daunting political and logistical challenges

Those hurdles have only multiplied in the wake of the disaster that has killed thousands in Turkey and Syria and brought down thousands of buildings.

Damage to roads and other infrastructure in southern Turkey has stalled aid from reaching northern Syria, an area already devastated by 12 years of conflict.

Meanwhile, the government of Bashar Assad in Damascus is still a pariah in much of the international community, sanctioned by the U.S. and European countries, which are reluctant to route aid directly through the government. American and EU officials have made clear the quake won’t change that.

Emergency workers say delays could cost lives, as local rescue crews struggle to pull families and children from the rubble and find housing for survivors amid brutal winter weather.

A key issue complicating the dispersal of aid is “the war and the way the aid response is split between rebel areas and Damascus,” said Aron Lund, a fellow with New York-based think tank Century International who researches Syria.

While the majority of Syria is under the control of the government in Damascus, most of the north is controlled by different — and sometimes conflicting — groups. The northwest is divided between land de facto controlled by Turkey and by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a rebel group with ties to al-Qaida. Syria’s northeast is mostly held by U.S.-backed Kurdish-led groups.

Foreign aid for years has been brought into northwestern Idlib province by way of Turkey, because of the difficulty of going by way of Damascus. But the area of southern Turkey traditionally used as a staging area has itself been heavily damaged by the earthquake.

Aid delivery into northwestern Syria was “temporarily disrupted” Tuesday, a United Nations spokesperson told The Associated Press, due to infrastructure damage and difficulty with road access.

In particular, damage to the Hatay airport and the road to the border crossing used for aid, Bab al-Hawa, was delaying shipments, said Emma Beals, a nonresident fellow at the Washington-based Middle East Institute.

“There is also the fact that there are enormous needs in Turkey itself,” she said.

One cause for hold-ups is that the U.N. mandate for delivering aid to the territory only allows it to enter through Bab al-Hawa crossing, Beals said. Also, international search teams may be reluctant to enter earthquake-affected areas controlled by HTS, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S.

The group’s “presence limits the kinds of aid many donors are prepared to supply to the area,” she said.

The government in Damascus and its allies in Russia have seized the moment to renew their push for aid to the north to be routed through Damascus. Countries opposed to Assad do not trust the Syrian authorities to effectively deliver aid to opposition areas and worry it would be diverted to benefit people and institutions linked to the government.

Natasha Hall, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said sending aid via Damascus to the north is not viable in practice, especially at a time of urgent need.

“It is extremely logistically and administratively difficult to get the approvals (from Damascus),” she said. Coordination of aid is also hampered “because the government of Syria doesn’t recognize the non-governmental organizations working in northwest Syria.”

At a press conference Tuesday in Damascus, Syrian Arab Red Crescent head Khaled Hboubati said his group is “ready to deliver relief aid to all regions of Syria, including areas not under government control.” He called for the European Union to lift its sanctions on Syria in light of the massive destruction caused by the earthquake.

Aid convoys and rescuers from several countries, notably key ally Russia, as well as the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Iran, and Algeria, have landed in airports in government-held Syria.

Still, the sanctions exacerbate the “difficult humanitarian situation,” Hboubati said.

“There is no fuel even to send (aid and rescue) convoys, and this is because of the blockade and sanctions,” he said

So far, the U.S. and its allies have resisted attempts at creating a political opening by way of the disaster response. U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters Monday that it would be “ironic, if not even counterproductive, for us to reach out to a government that has brutalized its people over the course of a dozen years now.”

Price said the U.S. would continue to provide aid through “humanitarian partners on the ground.”

Similarly, a spokesperson for the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said the “sanctions regime was put in place in response to human rights violations and other abuses by the regime and their cronies.”

A U.S. State Department spokesperson said humanitarian assistance in government-held areas go through partner organizations instead of the government.

“Our partners in regime-controlled areas directly deliver assistance to beneficiaries without control or direction from the Assad regime," they told AP. "This is to ensure that our assistance is not diverted by malign actors or the Assad regime and reaches the intended beneficiaries.”

One of the main groups supported by the United States and Britain is a civil defense organization in opposition-held areas known as the White Helmets; USAID Administrator Samantha Power spoke with the group's head Tuesday and “discussed how USAID can provide the most urgently needed assistance in response to the earthquake," her office said in a statement.

The European Union has provided aid in all parts of Syria through U.N. and NGO partners and is trying to increase funding for humanitarian support, said European Commission spokesperson Balazs Ujvari. He said the Syrian government has not yet formally requested Europe send rescue and medical workers.

In theory, aid operations in government areas should not be blocked by sanctions, since both the U.S. and EU have exemptions for humanitarian aid.

But the reality on the ground is sometimes different. For example, Lund said, banks might block transfers to pay suppliers or local workers for aid organizations for fear of running afoul of sanctions, despite the exemptions.

Also, U.S. sanctions and to some extent EU ones try to prevent rebuilding of damaged infrastructure and property in government-held areas in the absence of a political solution, which could hamper post-earthquake recovery, Lund said.

Meanwhile, in both parts of Syria, local emergency workers say only limited aid is reaching them.

“There are promises that aid will get to us but nothing has gotten here yet,” said the White Helmets’ head Raed Saleh.

Associated Press writer Sarah El Deeb in Beirut contributed to this report.

https://news.yahoo.com/aid-quake-hit-sy ... IGuV_PlQ-y

[Anthea]

How sanctions affect aid in Syria?

With thousands dead and thousands of others injured in Syria due to the earthquake, numerous international cargo companies refuse to land in Syria out of fear of US and EU sanctions

A massive earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 Richter ripped through Syria on early Monday, leading to thousands of deaths and thousands of injuries, with the latest tallies showing that more than 1,602 people have been killed in the catastrophe-stricken country, with thousands more injured.

The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called on the United Nations and competent UN organizations, as well as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), among many other humanitarian organizations to provide help for the country in the face of the devastating disaster Syria has been hit with.

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad held a meeting with UN representatives and various NGOs in a bid to explain the impact of the unilateral sanctions that are drastically affecting the situation in the country and the humanitarian response to it.

Local sources told Al Mayadeen that numerous international shipping firms have refused to land in Syria out of fear of US and EU sanctions after several countries have asked Syrian airline companies to transport tonnes of aid aboard their civilian airliners, which are not properly equipped for transporting such large amounts of aid

"The unjust sanctions on Syria directly contributed to an increase in the number of victims as a result of the earthquake because of the inability to secure modern machinery and equipment used in such instances," the head of the fire department in Latakia, Lieutenant Colonel Mohannad Jaafar, told Al Mayadeen.

"We have fulfilled our duty as per the capabilities available to us. Our entire regiment, with all its firemen, is on high alert. Rescue operations are still ongoing, but we are sadly taking more time because we do not have the proper equipment or a sufficient number of vehicles. Were we to have had these capabilities, we would have been able to save more lives," Lt. Col. Jaafar added.

Social media users have been sharing a screenshot from live flight trackers showing how Turkey's airspace is full of air traffic while neighboring Syria to the south does not have any air traffic whatsoever, signaling how the whole world was quick to send aid to Turkey in stark contrast with the situation in Syria.

Some sources have revealed that so far, some 62 aid teams from 50 countries have made it into Turkey while barely any have made it to Syria.

Mohammad, a 40-year-old local from Latakia, told Al Mayadeen how they waited for hours for search and rescue teams to make it to the site. During this time, locals resorted to manually removing any debris they could in a bid to save their families and neighbors.

Mohammad expressed his sadness over the situation in Syria, recalling the vast capabilities that his country had before the war and how it was sending aid and equipment to other disaster-stricken countries around the world when they were hit with such catastrophes, such as India, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Iran.

Aleppo has been classified as the most damaged, with more than 46 homes destroyed thus far. The Aleppo municipality said they were facing extreme difficulty when it came to providing proper equipment and manpower due to the amount of damage dealt to the governorate.

"The fierce military battles that took place in Aleppo have directly contributed to the collapse of the buildings after the foundation of these buildings were damaged, and the reconstruction efforts were delayed due to the sanctions on Syria," the deputy chief of the Aleppo City Council, Ahmed Rahmani, told Al Mayadeen.

Since the early hours of the morning, the Aleppo governorate has called on the people, private sector companies, and contractors, who have vehicles, to support and help remove the rubble, especially in the densely populated neighborhoods. The Engineers Syndicate also called on all of its members to stay in the Syndicate building in order to carry out their national duty and help people in need.

The crisis resulting from the terrorist war on Syria prompted civilians to seek refuge in damaged or somewhat destroyed buildings lacking basic infrastructure and services.

The Secretary-General of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, Khaled Arsoussi, made a distress call to international organizations, saying that "Syria urgently needs assistance from international organizations at home and abroad."

Arsoussi explained that there was a great shortage of equipment for rescue operations, especially when it comes to removing the rubble, with an alarming shortage of medicines and fuel, both of which are required to operate hospitals.

The Syrian Ministry of Health estimated the losses of the health sector in Syria during the decade-long war on the country to have been billions of Syrian pounds, especially in light of the destruction caused by terrorist groups and foreign mercenaries.

The years of war on Syria have seen the complete destruction of 38 hospitals at the hands of terrorists, as well as the that of 450 vehicles and the killing of more than 700 Syrian doctors

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... -effort-in

[Anthea]

Some HDP deputies visited earthquake area

Did they fill their cars with bottled water and blankets?

Not that I am aware

Seemed to have been some sort of sightseeing trip

None of them appeared to make any contributions

HDP photo op

[Anthea]

30 minutes ago 4.5 magnitude, 10 km depth
Yayladağı, Hatay, Turkey

[Anthea]

The worrying thing is that well over 100 aftershocks have been over 4 on the Richter scale

1 hour ago 4.0 magnitude, 17 km depth
Celeyke, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey

2 hours ago 4.5 magnitude, 10 km depth
Yayladağı, Hatay, Turkey

4 hours ago 4.9 magnitude, 10 km depth
Nurhak, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey

4 hours ago 4.1 magnitude, 10 km depth
Baytā al Fawqā, West Bank, Palestinian Territory

5 hours ago 4.6 magnitude, 10 km depth
Palu, Elazığ, Turkey

6 hours ago 4.4 magnitude, 5 km depth
Afşin, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey

7 hours ago 5.3 magnitude, 18 km depth
Göksun, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey

8 hours ago 4.2 magnitude, 20 km depth
Gölbaşı, Adıyaman, Turkey

9 hours ago 5.0 magnitude, 8 km depth
Göksun, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey

10 hours ago 4.6 magnitude, 19 km depth
Pazarcık, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey

Fortunately the aftershocks appear to be slowing down

The victims of this disaster are going to need a lot of help for many months to come

[Anthea]

2.25 GMT

21 minutes ago 4.3 magnitude, 10 km depth
Çelikhan, Adıyaman, Turkey

The survivors are suffering from shock, loss of friends and family, loss of homes clothes and personal belongings

Some will be without vital medicine and proofs of ID, most will have lost everything

They have been spending their second night cold, hungry and confused

In a few days something else will hit the headlines and they will be forgotten yet these people's lives have been changed forever

[Anthea]

36 minutes ago 4.5 magnitude, 10 km depth
Musabeyli, Kilis, Turkey

3 hours ago 4.9 magnitude, 10 km depth
Göksun, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey

4 hours ago 4.4 magnitude, 10 km depth
Anayazı, Hatay, Turkey

5 hours ago 4.6 magnitude, 10 km depth
Göksun, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey

[Anthea]

4.9 on the Richter scale is strong enough to bring down already weakened buildings and make rescue work extremely hazardous

Some areas have had to pause rescue work due to collapsing buildings

Feeling strong aftershocks every hour or so must be terrifying for those in the area

It now appears that the aftershocks might continue for some days or even weeks as the ground continues to settle

Voices have been heard from beneath the rubble in several areas so hope continues to rise

[Anthea]

Combined death toll in Turkey and Syria rises to over 11,200

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has announced that the death toll from Monday’s quake has reached 8,754. Combined with the 2,470 known deaths in Syria, that brings the total official death toll to 11,224.

The World Health Organization has suggested the final toll could rise as high as 20,000. A similar-sized earthquake in the region in 1999 killed at least 17,000 people.

NOTE: following the 1999 earthquake there were only 2 minor aftershocks, I estimate there have been more than 200 aftershocks and mini quakes following Monday's earthquake

Reuters reports that, speaking to reporters in the Kahramanmaraş province near the epicentre of the earthquake, with constant ambulance sirens in the background, Erdoğan said there had been problems with roads and airports but that everything would get better by the day.

He also said citizens should only heed communication from authorities and ignore “provocateurs,” as thousands of people complain about the lack of resources and slow response by officials. Turkish police have detained several people over their social media posts about the earthquake.

11.20 GMT 4.6 magnitude, 8 km depth
Nurhak, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey

11.10 GMT 5.4 magnitude, 7 km depth
Gölbaşı, Adıyaman, Turkey

Anything above 5 is extremely dangerous for buildings already in a weakened state

[Anthea]

2.20pm GMT

44 minutes ago 5.1 magnitude, 5 km depth
Nurhak, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey

This is strong enough to bring down weakened buildings

Not sure how safe community shelters will be for much longer

ME! I would live in a tent until the aftershocks become much calmer

[Anthea]

Armed groups in Idlib preventing aid and relief from reaching the population