Neighboring Country Panic as Syria-Turkey Earthquake Death Toll Rises

Syria and Turkey deadly earthquakes kill over 3000 people and panic the neighboring country, Kurdistan, Iraq.  

After devastating quakes struck northern Syria and southern Turkey, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) announced three days off for all KRG governmental and non-governmental sectors, including the education centers in both the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. 

Regarding the announcement, the Kurdistan Regional Government states, “This is to protect the lives of citizens and obey the report of the Ministry of Transport and Communications.”

The two large quakes with magnitudes of 7.8 and 7.7 brought down whole apartment blocks and piled more devastation on millions of displaced Syrians. As a result, millions of people across Iraq, Lebanon, Cyprus, and Israel felt the earthquake aftershock.   

The quake aftershock with a magnitude of 7.4 terrified and woke people up from north and west of Kurdistan, Iraq. Nishtiman Khalaf, an AUIS Civil Engineering graduate living in Duhok said, “I woke up to the sound of my bed moving; it felt like someone was shaking my bed.” 

Dr. Bakhtyar Qadir, professor of Geophysics, told Rudaw, I reassure citizens that the Kurdistan Region is far from being struck by a destructive earthquake.

The first quake struck early Monday, February 6, 2023, and was followed in the early afternoon by another large quake while rescuers were still searching for survivors and victims, both quakes together resulted in over 3000 deaths and thousands of injured survivors.

The KRG Ministry of Health announced that they had sent emergency teams, emergency doctors, a large number of specialist doctors, health workers, and ambulances to Turkey with a large number of medical supplies to help and support the victims of the earthquake.

Click here if you want to help the victims of the quake in Syria and Turkey. 

- DeaBtt