Aftershocks are still occurring in the region, often causing panic among residents. According to the Turkish government, 20 million people have been affected by the earthquake. For Syria, the United Nations estimates 8.8 million affected people.
The earthquake zone was initially difficult to access, but the salvage works continued and as they progressed, the number of casualties increased. There were no more reports of the rescue of survivors in recent days.
The earthquake began on February 6 with two magnitude 7.7 and magnitude 7.6 shocks in southeastern Turkey and northern Syria. More than 9,000 aftershocks followed, according to Turkey.
According to the UN, the natural disaster was not only the worst in Turkey’s history in terms of number of deaths. The mountains of rubble and stones are also unseen, said Louisa Vinton, the delegate of the UN development program UNDP in Turkey. According to the Turkish government, more than 173,000 buildings have collapsed or been severely damaged.
There is little information about the situation from northwestern Syria. Years of bombing and fighting in the civil war left many people living in precarious conditions even before the earthquake.