Giada Amendolara '25
On February 6, 2023, an earthquake slammed southern and central Turkey and northern and western Syria. The 7.8-magnitude earthquake killed tens of thousands of people, and according to the New York Times, “as of February 13, the death toll in Syria and Turkey had surpassed 35,000.”
Countless city blocks and buildings were destroyed, leaving masses of people, who already were experiencing a refugee crisis, without sanctuary. CNN reports that according to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, “we haven’t yet seen the full extent of the damage and of the humanitarian crisis unfolding before our eyes,” while estimates from the World Health Organization indicate that up to 23 million people could be impacted by the earthquake.
Turkey is located along tectonic plate boundaries, and in the last 25 years, there have been seven earthquakes with a magnitude of 7 or more. The February 6 earthquake was one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded in Turkey and was felt as far away as Lebanon and Israel. The New York Times reports that “the quake zone in Turkey stretches across more than 200 miles, from the Mediterranean in the south across mountains and to the east-central highlands and into northwestern Syria.”
More than 5,700 buildings have collapsed, according to CNN, and the country’s disaster agency has questioned the quality and structure of the buildings that collapsed. U.S. Geological Survey structural engineer Kishor Jaiswal reported to CNN that, “not all buildings have been built according to the modern Turkish seismic standard, the government has provided periodic ‘construction amnesties’ - effectively legal exemptions for the payment of a fee, for structures built without the required safety certificates.”
The earthquake and its aftershocks have resulted in a horrifying crisis. According to NPR, Northern Syria, which has already been devastated by war, is desperate for help after the earthquake, yet in neighboring Turkey, thousands of tons of aid has poured in from countries around the world. The New York Times reported that “the Syrian government has blamed U.S. sanctions for deepening the humanitarian disaster the country has suffered since the earthquake.”
Everyone here in the Fontbonne community is doing the best that they can to help with this tragic disaster. Our very own Advocates Club hosted a dress down where proceeds went to eight families affected by the earthquake.
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