Emergency Manager's Weekly Report

Feb 6, 20234 min read

Türkiye/Syria Earthquake Situation Report #1

Global Highlights:

· At 4:17am GMT a 7.7 earthquake struck southern Türkiye. This was the most powerful earthquake recorded since 1939. At least 78 aftershocks have been reported followed by a second earthquake of 7.5 magnitude at 1:24pm GMT.

· The epicenter of the earthquake is in the Ekinozu/Kahramanmaras province.

· The earthquake has heavily impacted Türkiye but also northern Syria.

· The Pacific Disaster Center has published an estimated assessment of impacts and needs:

o 23 million people were potentially exposed, this includes 5.28 million vulnerable people.

o 383 hospitals were exposed.

o The breakdown of key needs for the exposed vulnerable population is:

ü 11.1 billion calories per day

ü 15.8 million liters of water per day

ü 18.2 million square meters of shelter

Türkiye Highlights:

· The Türkiye government has reported that there are at least 1,762 fatalities and 11,119 injures.

· A minimum of 3,471 buildings in 10 provinces have been destroyed.

· Emergency response is ongoing and only response teams are currently allowed to land in airports in Gaziantep and Kahramanmaraş.

· The Government of Türkiye has since issued a Level 4 alarm, calling for international assistance.

· The Türkiye government has provided the following response update:

o An air bridge has been established to deploy personnel and equipment. The military has so far carried out 80 missions.

o A total of 9,698 search and rescue units and 216 vehicles have been deployed to the affected areas.

o A total of 86 catering vehicles, 14 mobile kitchens, 6 mobile foodbanks, 7 field kitchens, 2 mobile ovens have been deployed.

· The Türkiye Red Crescent has provided the following update:

o A crisis desk was immediately established at their Disaster Operation Center in Ankara.

o They have immediately deployed the following resources to the affected areas:

ü 5 Mobile Kitchens

ü 77 Catering Vehicles

ü 1,903 Tent and 26,929 Blankets

· Schools in the affected provinces are closed for at least a week.

· Healthcare and Public Health:

o The World Health Organization (WHO) is poised and ready to support the Ministry of Health.

o The epicenter of the initial earthquake was close to the Turkish city of Gaziantep, where WHO has a field office primarily supporting its humanitarian operations in north-western Syria. The field office is now operating as WHO’s response hub for this crisis as well.

o WHO’s Emergency Medical Teams have been activated to provide essential health care for the injured and most vulnerable affected by the disaster.

· Districts in Gaziantep are facing chronic power cuts and water shortage. Gas flow through pipelines through Kahramanmaras and Gaziantep has been shutdown to mitigate explosion risks.

· The EU Civil Protection Mechanism has been activated at the request of the Türkiye government:

o A total of 10 Urban Search and Rescue Teams have been activated. A total of four teams have arrived in Türkiye.

o The EU Emergency Response Coordination Centre is monitoring the situation and is organizing the deployment of European search and rescue teams.

o For satellite imagery support the following entities have been activated:

ü Copernicus Emergency Medical System

ü UNOSAT

ü International Disaster Charter

· The U.S. Agency for International Development has activated the Virginia Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 1. This team will deploy with 79 personnel and six search dogs.

Syrian Highlights:

· At least 430 fatalities and 1,315 injuries are currently be reported in the north-west portion of the country. These numbers are expected to increase as hundreds of people remain trapped in damaged and destroyed buildings.

· At least 325 buildings have been partially damaged and 224 were destroyed in 17 sub-districts. Preliminary assessments indicate that the sub-districts of Harim, Atmeh, Sarmada, Atareb, and Kafr Takharim are among the worst hit areas.

· This region has 4.1 million people who are dependent on humanitarian assistance. The majority are women and children.

· Also, the affected areas are still dealing with a cholera outbreak and harsh winter events including heavy rain and snow over the weekend.

· The Syrian Civil Defense immediately began emergency response operations following the earthquake. They are calling on humanitarian organizations and international bodies to provide material support and assistance to organizations responding to this disaster.

· The Syrian Red Crescent has been providing mass care and emergency response assistance since the first earthquake. This includes:

o Transporting and distributing bedding and blankets to affected areas.

o Transporting at least 212 people to hospitals.

· Healthcare Update:

o WHO has released their trauma kits to at least 16 hospitals.

o The Syrian American Medical Society which operates several hospitals in the affected areas is reporting the following:

ü Their hospitals are overwhelmed with patients filling the hallways, but they are continuing to receive and treat the wounded.

ü A total of four of their hospitals have been evacuated.

ü They are reporting an immediate need for trauma supplies.

· Infrastructure Impacts:

· Infrastructural damages are difficult to assess at this time and roads have been reportedly blocked in north-west Syria.

· In Lattakia, structural damage to water reservoirs and tanks has been reported:

ü The High Ghaniri Reservoir, with a volume of 200 m3, is reportedly falling apart, and the condition of its structure has been assessed as very poor. The reservoir is surrounded by residential buildings which makes it high risk.

ü The Al Fawar ground tank (Jableh city), Dahr Al-Syriani high reservoir and Cemet high reservoir of Wadi Qandil station have reportedly been cracked; while, the Dam station reservoir (Central) has cracked and the water is leaking.

· The humanitarian response is largely overstretched with a funding gap of 48% identified for the last quarter of 2022 ($371.1 is required out of 802.1 million).

Sources:

· ReliefWeb, Türkiye/Syria: Earthquakes - Feb 2023 Page

· Türkiye earthquakes: supporting the emergency response

· Kahramanmaraş Earthquake: Humanitarian Relief Operation, Information Note - As of 22.00 (GMT) February 6, 2023

· Syrian Arab Republic - Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) Coordinated Response Flash Update - Earthquake (6 February 2023)

· Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Interior Disaster and Emergency Management Authority Twitter Page

· OCHA North-West Syria: Situation Report (6 February 2023)

· UNOCHA Twitter Page

· IFRC Twitter Page

· Türkiye Red Crescent Twitter Page

· Syrian Red Crescent Twitter Page

· EU ECHO Facebook and Twitter Pages