All over Syria and Türkiye, people are grieving the loss of loved ones as bodies are being found and rescued from the rubble after the 7.8 earthquake that hit on Feb. 6th. Since the earthquake, they have found and counted over 41,000 deaths. However, that number is expected to rise. 

The few survivors who have been rescued have been stuck under rubble for at least 24 hours. They are still going through rubble and rescuing survivors, including a 40-year-old woman who was stuck for 170 hours after the initial earthquake. There have been countless people injured and many more displaced.

 Survivors have been moved to neighboring regions. According to the UNOCHA (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs), over 9 million people have been affected by the earthquake and they are proposing a 400 million dollar funding appeal to provide basic humanitarian needs for the next three months.

Volunteers are tirelessly still searching and going through rubble to rescue survivors and reclaim bodies. As time passes, the likelihood of finding survivors decreases. Some of the volunteers are survivors and victims of this catastrophe themselves, and are looking to provide relief for families and victims who are living in open air tents after being displaced.      

There has been outrage since the earthquake exposed the architectural flaws of so many of the buildings that collapsed. Many of the people responsible for skipping safety guidelines and selling the building anyways have been trying to cross the border. However, arrests have been made. According to USA Today geologist Tony Namar warns that there could be a possibility of another earthquake, “the fault line that broke in Türkiye is more than 200 miles long” and that, “ only part of the East Anatolian fault line was broken in the recent earthquake. Almost half the fault line saw no activity.”

One thing is apparent through this disaster, whether or not more is to come, is that it is going to take the help of many countries to help Syria and Türkiye recover from this nightmare