Media reports say more than 46,000 people have been killed in the earthquake that struck Turkiye and Syria and the toll is expected to soar, with some 345,000 apartments in Turkiye now known to have been destroyed, and many still missing.
Reuters reported yesterday that the death toll in Turkiye stands at 40,642 from the quake while neighboring Syria has reported more than 5,800 deaths, a toll that has not changed for days.
The death toll in Turkey reportedly stands at 40,642 from the quake while neighboring Syria has reported more than 5,800 deaths, a toll that has not changed for days.
Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, WFP Director David Beasley said the Syrian and Turkish governments had been cooperating very well, but that its operations were being hampered in northwestern Syria.
Meanwhile, Wikipedia reports that over 47,400 deaths have been confirmed as of 19 February 2023; over 41,000 in Turkiye, and over 6,400 in Syria.
Recall, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck southern and central Turkey, as well as northern and western Syria on February 6.
The first earthquake was the strongest earthquake in Turkiye since the 1939 Erzincan earthquake, of the same magnitude, together with which it is the second-strongest in the history of the country after the 1668 North Anatolia earthquake. In Syria, it was the deadliest earthquake since the 1822 Aleppo earthquake.
The earthquakes were reportedly followed by more than 2,100 aftershocks. The seismic sequence was the result of shallow strike-slip faulting. Collectively, the earthquakes are estimated to have caused US$84.1 billion worth of damage, ranking them the fourth-costliest earthquakes on record.
